Infected
by mysticxf
Summary: After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable
1. Chapter 1

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

The jungle was always quieter the morning after a fight on the beach. Seemed like people slept in late, or just kept to themselves. Even the birds in the trees didn't whistle and screech like they normally did. Sawyer liked it that way. Didn't even care that Jack was probably lying dead over a tree stump; Kate sleeping next to the good doctor gripping a bloody knife. Smirking, Sawyer leaned against a tree with his free hand and unzipped himself with the other. He always enjoyed a good fight. Didn't even know what it was about. Locke had gone and disappeared again, maybe it was about that.

All he knew was he walked into a clearing and Kate was decking Jack. Decking him good too, Sawyer thought to himself. The people who had stopped what they were doing to watch the screaming match were suddenly turning away, moving out of the area to let them fight. They'd been going at it for days. Sawyer loved to watch the red creep into her face when Jack got near her. He thought if he watched long enough, he'd see steam shooting from her ears. He even teased her about him.

Sawyer wondered momentarily if Jack had hit her back. He glanced back over his shoulder, towards where the beach would be if he walked long enough, and made a mental note to take a good look the next time he saw her. It would mean not joking, not pressing, not annoying. Sawyer sighed, knowing that'd be hard. The girl was just too easy to frustrate. That was just the first thing in a long list of things Sawyer found intriguing about Kate.

He'd given up hope of having her, at least the rational side of his mind had. She'd clearly chosen Jack. Sawyer knew from the day he returned on what was left of the raft and watched her leave the tent when Jack asked her to. Kate visited him once during his long recovery, only to bring him food. Sawyer had shouted at her to go and she'd never come back. Now they had fallen back into their banter, occasionally running into one another on the beach of in the jungle.

She'd moved to the caves.

Sawyer found that the most shocking of everything else that had happened when he returned. Not even the hatch or the kidnapping of Aaron, or the Black Rock made him sit down. He returned to camp and went to bother her at her shelter and found it gone. The sand was smooth and the grass had grown over the log she used as a chair. He remembered the way he'd stomped through the jungle, ignoring Hurley and Sayid as he went with a wave of his arm.

And there she was, up a tree, adjusting the height on a tarp she'd tied up just outside of the caves. Jack was standing below her, telling her it was a good idea – most people slept just outside of the cave anyways. So she made a porch for the mansions, Sawyer had joked. He remembered the way Jack smiled and she rolled her eyes. Sawyer felt burned inside. He'd given her a nod of his head and gone back to the beach. He liked the beach more anyway.

A low moan made him lift his head. Shaking himself off and zipping up his pants, he crept through the jungle towards it, hearing a second. His eyebrows creased together in recognition and he peered through a wall of palm fronds, seeing Jack lying atop Kate. They were on what looked like a bed of bright green moss and he wanted to break through the curtain of foliage and tease them about being downright unsanitary, but his body froze, seeing Jack thrust into her with one smooth motion. She opened her mouth, but only let out a long breath as he lowered his head onto her shoulder, continuing to move between her thighs.

Sawyer swallowed hard, feeling his pants tighten the longer he stood there. He watched Kate wrap one long leg around Jack's back side and then saw her pull his head up, kissing him gently, his body shuddering, his knee slipping momentarily. Jack smiled and raised his head, giving it a small shake and she giggled. Kate giggled, Sawyer thought, his eyes widening and then slamming shut when Jack pressed himself deep into her, making her cry out loudly.

Turning away, Sawyer inhaled until his lungs hurt, hearing their breathing getting harder behind him. Kate said Jack's name on a loud whisper and the man grunted a response and Sawyer began to run. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but he kept pumping his legs until they fumbled under him and he found himself falling. Sawyer slammed face first into the muddy ground and groaned in pain. His left knee stung and he flipped himself over, catching his breath as he found the energy to lift into a sitting position.

"Now that's gotta be one of the best falls I've ever seen," Locke told him with a smile, a half eaten fruit gripped in his palm. Locke held out a hand and Sawyer took it, letting the man lift him off the ground and towards a fallen tree where he sat and looked at the torn hole in his jeans. Blood was just beginning to leak out of the wound and he hissed when he touched it. "Mind if I ask what you were running from?" Locke looked back in the direction Sawyer had come and then looked at Sawyer.

Sawyer raised his head slightly, watching the older man munch away on what smelled like an orange and he shook his head, touching his knee again. "Nothing."

"Looked like more than nothing to me," Locke commented.

"Nothing you'd understand, then, old man." Sawyer stood and tested his leg. It hurt, but he'd be fine.

"You ran into Jack and Kate." Sawyer's head whipped up and he saw the other man staring at him, an amused smile on his face. Locke laughed and waved a hand at him. "They've been going at it all night." Locke shrugged. "Not safe if you ask me. She's going to end up with a young one on this island in less than a year, I'd bet on it."

Sawyer limped several steps away from Locke, his lips pressed together tightly. "Great."

Locke turned. "You need help getting back to the beach?"

"Nah," Sawyer mumbled. "I'll be just fine by myself."

"Alright," Locke responded. Within a minute, Sawyer turned and saw no trace of the old man, not even the tangy scent of orange.

The beach was still quiet when he returned. He kicked the edge of his new shelter. It was half the shelter his previous one had been. If he raised his head, he could see Michael's shelter. The man's beard had grown long and he spent his days in the jungle with Sayid and Jin looking for Walt. Sawyer promised he'd be out there with them as soon as his arm healed. It'd been months since the raft floated back towards the island, a charred mess of bamboo and coconut shells.

Sawyer wasn't even sure how they survived the return. He'd been bleeding into the water for days. He was sure, with every unknown bump on his legs, that he'd be eaten by sharks. Jin would throw his body farther up on the remains of the raft and nod his head as he and Michael kicked their legs until exhaustion. Sawyer was half unconscious when they hit land. He remembered they made him a stretcher and he remembered they put him on it and they walked for a few more days. Jin would shove squishy stuff into his mouth and he'd eat it out of hunger.

His stomach turned and he pulled hard on the string that kept the front flap of the shelter rolled up. The blue material rolled down with a rough flapping and a thump at the sand below. Tossing himself onto the bed of airline seat cushions, Sawyer saw his penis was still inflamed in his pants, despite the long walk and the disruption by Locke. He rubbed himself through his jeans and tried to imagine her, but now Jack was in the way and it occurred to him that he'd now seen Jack completely naked. His erection instantly went limp and Sawyer threw himself back, his head hitting the cushions hard, and he closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Sawyer woke to a hand on his foot, shaking him. He grunted and kicked, hearing her give a shout and then she called his name, sounding amused. Kate, he started to grin, but he stopped himself, opening one eye and peering out to where she was standing at the edge of the tarp, rolling it up. "Hey, sleepy," she told him.

"What do you want, Freckles?" Sawyer drawled, rubbing his eyes.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I want to go to the Black Rock, see if I can salvage anything useful. Jack's got some guy with a poison ivy rash and a horrible case of hypochondria. Keeps saying it's shingles or something. Figured you'd love to get a good look at the ship and could use some stock since you kind of gave everything away before you left."

"What am I gonna find in some hundred year old boat?"

Kate smiled. "Gold," she teased. She kicked his foot. "Come on, Sawyer, you always wanna stick your nose in my business and now I'm letting you and you're turning me down?"

"Someone else already stuck their something in your business," he muttered and she lowered her eyebrows at him, curious.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sawyer spat, pushing himself up and running a hand through his hair. "Let's go."

"This might take the whole day," she warned as he grabbed his pack.

Sawyer looked up at her and gave her his best smile. "Awe, the warden letting you out of his sight that long these days?"

"I told you, Jack can't come."

"Oh," Sawyer silenced himself, lifting his eyebrows in an amused gesture. He shoved an extra water bottle she handed him into his pack along with an extra shirt, some fruit he had stashed in a corner and a second shirt. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to keep her in his shelter longer.

Sawyer watched the way she leaned against the palm tree frame and stared at each item going into his bag. Like she wanted to take care of him. Sawyer frowned, only reason he'd agreed to go was to take care of her. He never liked her wandering off into the jungle on her own. He zipped up the sides of the pack realizing it was more than just that. If he'd lost her romantically, at least he could keep her friendship.

Glancing up at her, Sawyer smiled, holding his backpack up before strapping it on. "Fine then, let's go."

Kate turned out of his shelter and headed along the beach. Sawyer jogged to come to her side and walk with her. He watched as she stared ahead of herself. He wondered if she even knew how to get to the Black Rock. He wondered if it was a good idea, them going. Sawyer glanced behind them and saw his shelter get smaller and smaller as they continued, until they were around a bend and he couldn't see anything but land he'd never seen before.

Soon they were at rocks that met the ocean and he glanced up at the tall mountains at their side. "You think these are active volcanoes?"

Shaking her head, Kate climbed up onto the rocks and headed into the jungle. "Nah. If they were, there'd be smoke, sulfur fumes and heat." She touched the side of the rocks, lifting herself higher on the rock formation.

"You some kind of volcano expert now?"

Kate laughed and ducked her head bashfully. "Used to read lots of books."

"Can't picture you as a big reader."

"Don't have much time to read these last couple years," she told him with a quick shrug of her shoulders. "We should stay quiet. Danielle seemed to think this was a real dangerous zone. Apparently some guy lost an arm out here."

Sawyer wrinkled his nose and touched his shoulder. "Them Others around these parts?"

Kate nodded.

Biting his bottom lip, he turned to look back at the ocean between the trees. The sound was becoming inaudible, replaced by the creaking of bamboo and the odd squawking of birds. Sawyer wouldn't turn back; he knew she'd just go on without him. He watched her as she led him through the jungle.

Her step had an odd limp to it from too much sex and even at her most serious, he could see the hint of a smile on her lips. She seemed… Sawyer thought a moment, trying to find the right expression… happy. For a moment it made him want to kick her feet out from under her. Just to hurt her the way it hurt him. But it'd been a long time since he'd seen someone with the afterglow of genuine love.

Sawyer watched her thoughts wandered and every so often she stopped herself, smirking awkwardly and pointing at the direction they should have been heading in. "You sure you know where we're going?" He asked her a third time.

She pointed. "Yeah, just got distracted."

"Hmph," he breathed.

Breaking through a thick wall of vines, Kate turned back to smile at him as she walked through. "We're here."

Sawyer emerged and stared at the back end of a large boat. He examined the letters on the back and the large hole in the side. Sawyer noticed the island seemed to be growing over it, as if eating it, and he shivered. Sniffing, he looked around, and spat. "Something dead out here."

"Arzt," Kate told him, a frown enveloping her face. "Jack says the humidity is slowing the decay process."

Looking around, Sawyer saw what looked like the remains of an arm – mostly bone – lying on the ground covered in ants and vines. He'd heard that story from Hurley. Amazingly, the large man had been the one who visited him the most while he'd been secluded in a tent on the beach while the hole in his arm healed. He'd appreciated it though; Hurley had a good humor to him that made all of his stories amusing and entertaining enough to make him forget the pain, forget the kid who was taken and forget the woman who never came.

"Sawyer!" Kate called. He glanced up to see her halfway up the side of the boat, climbing on what looked like an old anchor. He ran to stand below her.

"Woman, are you insane?" He shouted up at her.

She shook her head, creasing her eyebrows. "No, you coming?"

Sawyer walked to the side of the boat and glanced around, listening for any strange sounds. People losing arms; blowing up, Sawyer didn't want any part of that. He climbed quickly, going over the edge right behind Kate, who gripped the side of the boat. It was on a tilt and she let go, sliding to the other side with a grunt. Sawyer gave her a look of disapproval.

"Careful Sawyer, you looked like Jack," she teased, walking the edge of the boat and then making her way across to the captain's cabin at the center.

"I ain't nothing like Jack," Sawyer told her, moving along his edge and sliding to catch the stairway which covered the entryway she was standing in. Kate pulled open the door, turning her head and breathing while the cabin aired out. Sawyer caught a whiff of something rotten. He looked in, but couldn't find the source. Vines had broken into the windows and the ground was covered in grass and leaves. He slipped as he stepped past her, towards a desk.

She rummaged through it and sighed, then moved to another part of the cabin. Sawyer looked at the map on the table in the center. It was crumpled, wet and a layer of dirt made it hard to read, but it seemed to be a map of the Caribbean Sea. Sawyer flipped the map page up and cursed when it ripped. Underneath though, were other maps. The rest of the ocean, he figured. He wondered if this island was plotted.

"Hey, you think Sayid would want these maps?" He questioned, turning to see Kate flipping through a drawer with her bottom lip pressed tight under her top teeth. She glanced up, looking confused, and shook her head.

"Those are just maps of the ocean, Sayid's only interested in maps of this island."

"What if this island is on one of these maps?"

She seemed to consider before shrugging. "You think you can get them back to him in one piece? Jack and I have already told him where this is and have offered to bring him, but he refuses."

Sawyer nodded. "So I heard there was a hatch. Led down into the ground…"

Kate's gaze glazed over a moment as she stared out the cabin windows in front of her. "There's a hatch. Locke's all over it."

"What happened at the hatch?" Sawyer asked, leaning on the table. He watched the way she seemed to be searching her mind, her left hand shifting on some unseen object inside the drawer.

She shook her head. "Lots of fighting."

"What's in the hatch?" He pressed on, cocking his head to the left to get a better look at her face. Jack didn't hit back, he now knew. Or at least, Jack didn't hit women. Sawyer watched her shrug her shoulders and sigh, as if frustrated.

"Don't know. Locke went down; Locke came up, said it was nothing of importance." She tossed a hand in the air absently.

"You trust that guy?"

"Not particularly," Kate told him honestly. She looked up at him. "Why do you want to know so much all of a sudden?"

"I know you'll tell me," he responded with a grin. "You're a gossip about everyone on this island except yourself."

Kate smiled and pulled out a box of old fashioned matches. "These will be useful if they aren't soaked through."

Sawyer gave a sigh and turned, moving out of the cabin and going below deck. He saw the skeletons of slaves chained to the side of the boat and he wrinkled his nose at them. His eyes fell on a chest with some old books inside. He recognized the titles of a few and he jammed one into his backpack, turning when Kate jumped onto the wood floor. Sawyer smiled, his lips pressed tight together trying to fight laughter. She was wearing an old white shirt, unbuttoned, with the sleeves flopping down over her hands. Her grin fell as she saw the skeletons and she started to roll up the left sleeve, going to them.

"Wonder where they were going."

Sawyer scoffed. "Why in the hell would you wonder that?"

"They were prisoners."

"They were slaves," Sawyer corrected.

Kate frowned. "Don't see the difference."

Sawyer didn't question her. He watched her roll up the right sleeve and adjust the shirt on her shoulders as she went towards the bodies and began examining what clothes was left on them. "Whatcha looking for?"

"Anything useful. This shirt's old, but it's still good."

"What you want that old shirt for?" Sawyer asked incredulously.

Kate shrugged, the corners of her mouth tugging into a grin. "Arzt kind of blew up mine." She jumped as the skeleton's arm dropped out of the shackles around its wrist. "Having a long sleeved shirt is good. Keeps the bugs off your skin, keeps the sun off – the white reflects the sunlight. Also good at night when it's cooler…" her voice trailed and she went back towards the stairs. "There's more underneath."

"Heard about the dynamite. We gonna take some of that?" Sawyer asked, following her down some stairs under a trap door. "You been her a few times, haven't you?"

Kate didn't respond. She led him to the bottom level, past more skeletons and boxes. She raised her hand, pointing at an axe that lay in a corner. "We should take that," she told him before she went out of a hole in the hull. "It's getting dark; we'll set camp here and…"

"Bad idea, Kate," Locke informed her, sitting on a log Kate recognized as the one she'd approached Hurley on. He'd been distraught over seeing Arzt blown to bits. Locke shook his head. "I've heard some noises out there that indicate we are not alone. Our best bet is to make towards the ocean as quickly as possible."

"Really," she responded, planting her hands on her waist. Sawyer held the axe tightly, shifting it on his shoulder, so it rested against the strap of his backpack.

Nodding, Locke waved an arm for them to follow. Sawyer started, but stopped, hearing something in the jungle, something moving their way, awful fast. "I think we should take cover," he advised Kate in a whisper.

"Locke," she started, but Sawyer pulled her back into the hull of the ship just as something came storming through, missing them just barely. She shoved off him and looked out of the hole, searching the trees for Locke. "Dammit, Sawyer," she spat at him, lunging herself out quickly.

Sawyer gave a shout, seeing her run straight into the trees opposite the boat and she shouted Locke's name. He listened, watching from inside the ship. The jungle was silent and he took several breaths, feeling his heart drumming in his chest. Sawyer pushed off the barrels he lay against and picked up the axe from where he'd dropped it on the ground. He took a step towards the opening and shouted when Locke ran inside.

"Where's Kate?" Locke asked quickly, his eyes wide with surprise.

"She went out looking for you, Brainiac!" Sawyer shouted in response, giving Locke a shove. "God dammit!" He added in frustration. "Why's everything gotta be so complicated in this damned place? All we came to do was ransack the ship. Can't just take a few items the dead people don't need and be gone. No, we gotta get attacked by the monster."

Sawyer held his breath and shot out of the hole, towards the trees he'd seen Kate head into. He heard Locke shout his name behind him before following quickly. They leaned against a tree and glanced around.

"It's just protecting the island."

"What?" Sawyer asked.

Locke looked around at the trees, a wondrous expression plaguing his face. "The security system. It's just protecting the island. We're invaders here."

Shaking his head, Sawyer snorted. "KATE!" He shouted.

Locke grabbed his shoulder. "Be quiet."

"SAWYER!" Kate shouted in response from far off in the jungle.

He shot off, despite Locke's best efforts to hold him back. Sawyer heard the gunshot from somewhere in the trees before it zipped through the material of his pants. Giving a shout of pain, he pressed himself against the nearest tree and threw himself to the ground. Who the hell, Sawyer wondered before remembering the gun that put the hole in his shoulder. The others were out there, he knew. Sawyer grabbed his leg, seeing the line the bullet had made against his thigh. Just a graze, not a wound, he assured himself.

Glancing up, Sawyer saw Kate running towards him, her head never turning, and a few yards from him, Locke tackled her to the ground. She cried out in pain and Sawyer grimaced, watching for movement. Then he saw it: A puff of black smoke circling a nearby tree before shooting off in their direction.

Sawyer shook his head, rubbing his eyes and stared off into the jungle, looking for it again. He saw Kate's head pop up and Locke stood next to her, cautiously, looking around. Kate crouched and advanced towards Sawyer, her hand suddenly gripping a large knife. "Stay there," she told him with the rising of her hand, as he began to move.

Another gunshot and she fell. Sawyer started to shout her name, but she got up again and began to move. Locke followed slower, looking around, trying to find the direction from which the bullets were coming. Sawyer saw a shadow and he focused on it, watching it materialize from nothing and fly through the air, towards Kate. He jerked, raising an arm and Locke saw it, jumping forward and shoving Kate out of its way. The cloud went into Locke, making him seize up, and then it passed through him and left at lightning speed. Locke dropped to the ground and Sawyer could see the grass moving frantically.

"Sawyer, help me!" Kate grunted.

Looking around, Sawyer weighed his options before moving towards the old man who was unconscious on the ground. Kate pulled Locke's right arm around her neck and Sawyer moved to his left, dragging Locke away from the Black Rock together. They arrived on the beach long after the sun had set, both exhausted, and they let him fall onto the sand as they collapsed on either side of him. Sawyer heard the people on the beach shouting and saw Jack come running, a look of terror flashing across his face. Leaning back on his arms, Sawyer realized that Jack wasn't concerned about Locke; he was concerned about Kate.

His eyes traveled to her as Jack fell on his knees at her side and saw she grimaced suddenly, painfully and sobbed out loud, holding Jack's arm with a bloody hand as he examined her. Sawyer sat up quickly, shocked, and saw the bullet wound to her right shoulder. He hadn't seen it before. How had he not seen it before, he asked himself. Jack pulled off the old shirt and used it to press into the wound. Sawyer listened as Jack started barking orders to those on the beach to get the stretcher for Locke. He then picked Kate up in his arms and took off towards the beach shelter they used for medical emergencies. There weren't as many supplies as in the caves, Sawyer knew.

Jack called for Sun and Jin ran off into the jungle. Sawyer stood, helping the two men who came with the board made from bamboo rods. He rolled Locke onto the board and watched the way he continued to sleep. He pushed the others faster than they were traveling and gained odd looks from them as they went towards the tarp. Sawyer could hear her. She wasn't screaming like he'd expect someone in her position to do. She just cried silently as Jack cleaned the hole with water and then with a small bottle of alcohol. He tossed her shirt to the ground and pulled at her tank top, ripping the right shoulder strap.

"Sawyer, hold her arm," he heard Jack command.

"What are you going to do?" Sawyer asked, watching him thread a needle. Kate lifted her head and Sawyer saw her eyes water over as she closed them and turned away again, her lips spreading with a sob she swallowed. "What, you're gonna sew her up like a damned pillow?"

Jack clenched his jaw and whispered in Sawyer's ear, "I sew her shut or I take a piece of metal, hold it in the fire for a couple minutes, and burn her shut."

Sawyer nodded and he gripped her arm, feeling the muscles tense under his grip. Jack straddled her stomach and nodded to a man behind him, instructing him to hold her legs. Sawyer watched him press the skin of her shoulder together and he waited, watching as she swallowed hard several times before looking up at him. She nodded, almost imperceptibly, and braced herself. Jack sewed quickly and Sawyer was amazed at how stiff she went in his arms. Occasionally, a tear fell down her cheek and Sawyer wanted to wipe them away, but he held her left shoulder and right arm tightly.

Just as swift, Jack sewed up the hole in the back and by sunrise she was asleep. Sawyer yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, as he watched them together. Jack had been sitting on the ground between Locke and Kate, making sure both were alright before letting himself doze off. His head lay on his arm, which was stretched out above Kate's head. Beside him, Locke stirred, opening his eyes slowly and looking up at the tarp that flapped above him. Sawyer watched the man's face in the orange light of sunrise.

Taking a step forward, he started to tap Jack on the shoulder, but Locke shook his head, giving Sawyer a smile. "I'm fine, Sawyer, just got a bit winded."

"Got run through by a ghost's what it looked like."

"Don't worry," Locke told him, sitting up on the cushions. He looked over at Jack and Kate. "Let them sleep." Then he saw her arm in a sling, a sling Sawyer recognized from a long time ago that Kate had made for Jack. "She took a bullet?" Locke asked, curious.

"Yeah, I thought you knew. You were right behind her." Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest.

"You should have Jack look at your leg," Locke told him, pointing at the blood stained jeans Sawyer wore.

Sawyer moved it and shrugged. "Nah, it's fine."

"It could get infected," Locke said, cocking his head to the left slightly, examining Sawyer.

"I'll take my chances," Sawyer said with a grin. "You up for a walk, old man?"

Locke shrugged towards Jack and Kate. "They bother you, don't they?" He stood and walked out of the shelter, waiting for Sawyer to step out with him. He scratched his bald head and watched the sun creep up in the sky, turning to bring the tarp down to block the light from the duo sleeping inside.

"No," Sawyer lied.

Locke gave him a grin, his eyes squinted towards the tarp they'd just emerged from. "You're not a very good liar."

Sawyer snorted. He wondered what Locke would think if he told him his profession was a professional liar. He walked towards the beach, watching others pass him, not looking him in the eye. They seemed surprised to see Locke though. "They bother me, that what you wanna hear?"

"You could probably have her, if you wanted," Locke told him with a shrug of his shoulders.

His head snapping up to look at him, Sawyer frowned. "What you trying to say?"

Locke shook his head. "It's just curious. I thought you were the stronger man." Locke walked away from him and Sawyer lowered his eyebrows. Something was off with the balding man. He should have figured it out immediately that Locke was now infected, Sawyer knew, it shouldn't have had to take Sayid's death.


	3. Chapter 3

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

It felt like eons had passed and Sawyer found himself missing the other man's presence. Sawyer and Sayid never did get along properly, but they had an understanding and Sayid was a decent man. Sawyer had met few of those in his lifetime.

He'd been counting the days since they'd found Sayid in the jungle, it'd been a hundred a thirty five. Sawyer sighed into the wind as he walked along the paths away from the caves into the jungle. Jack blamed himself, of course, knew if he'd paid more attention, he'd have seen it. They all told him to stop blaming himself for not knowing Locke was infected. Kate and Sawyer told him to stop blaming himself for Sayid's death.

Jack was the leader; that was his justification. He should have known.

Sawyer blamed himself, but he told no one else. He figured he was the only person who saw the black cloud go through Locke and he never told anyone. Sawyer had even started to think it was all just a figment of his imagination. He tossed the rock he'd been handling and jumped back when he heard her grunt in pain. Kate emerged from the bushes looking frazzled with one hand on her forehead and the other wavering around her waistline. She frowned at him.

"Why'd you hit me with a rock?" Her voice was hoarse and she looked angry.

Taking a step towards her, he pulled her hand back, seeing the red welt just above her left eye. She winced when he touched it and Sawyer noted the redness in her eyes, the flustered look on her face. "You alright, Freckles?"

"I was taking a piss and you beaned me on the head with a rock, what do you think?" There was an annoyance in her voice he'd never heard before. And Sawyer knew he'd pushed too far on numerous occasions. She pulled her head out of his grasp and walked away from him, finding her bag and strapping it to her back.

"What are you doing out here anyways? You know Locke's out here."

"I can handle Locke," Kate told him, her hand absently thumbing a hunting knife on her hip.

"That so?" Sawyer sounded amused and he grinned, showing off his dimples. Dimples that still had an effect on her. He saw it instantly. Her stance relaxed and she sighed, releasing the tension that had built on her shoulders.

Kate smiled, shaking her head. "Locke hasn't been here in a good long time."

"I don't get that about you, kiddo." Sawyer raised a finger, pointing it at her. "You can track boar and hunt it down for the masses, but finding Locke and taking him out – you refuse to do it."

"He's a human being," she told him, disgusted.

"Infected," Sawyer told her with a nod. "That's what Jack said, what Danielle said before she went and disappeared too. Don't see why you can't track him down. Hell, one of us'll take him out."

Kate bit her bottom lip and grimaced. "Can we not talk about Locke?" Then she added, "Please?"

Sawyer nodded slowly, following Kate as she made her way towards some trees. She turned and Sawyer took in her profile with a raised eyebrow as she made to pick some fruit, tossing him one. Sawyer knew every curve on her body like the back of his hand, so to see the new one, made his stomach flutter just a little.

"Let's talk about Jack then," he shot quickly, taking a deep bite of mango.

Her head whipped around to face him and she lowered her eyebrows. "He's at the caves. He's re-categorizing the stock. Sun's gardens are doing really well, and they're experimenting with all sorts of stuff." She smiled. "I think when they get back to the States, they'll get rich writing a 'survival' guide…"

"Let's talk about what Jack don't know." Sawyer stepped towards her, breathing hot on her ear.

Kate didn't move and Sawyer peeked down her tank top, feeling dirty. Turning around, she shoved him and shook her head. Sawyer watched her walk away from him and he read into her confusion. She didn't know either? Sawyer raised a hand.

"Hey, wait up," he said, his voice dropping the pretension. He saw her turn, looking at him curiously. "Don't you know, woman?"

"Know what?" Kate asked.

Sawyer looked back at where he'd found her. "You was throwing up, wasn't you," he realized.

"No," she told him, too quickly.

"When you gonna break it to the good ol' doctor?"

Kate began to sob, catching Sawyer off guard. He jerked back from her, his eyes going wide with fear as she brought a hand up to her nose and shook her head. She covered her face with her hands and Sawyer watched her shoulders convulse as she continued to cry. He swallowed hard, taking a step closer to her and pulling her into his chest. She didn't pull her hands away from her face; she just continued to cry in his arms.

"What's wrong? Thought you'd be happy about having a baby," Sawyer admitted. He'd seen her playing with Aaron, cooing at him and coddling him whenever he was near.

She whined something high pitched and muddled and Sawyer pulled her back, prying her hands off her face. Her eyes were slits, her mouth was pulled wide in a frown and she flared her nose. He wanted to look away, he hated when women cried. "I'm scared," she managed.

"Well, hell, I'd be concerned if you weren't," he laughed.

Kate responded by crying more.

Sawyer let his head fall back slightly. "Look, Freckles, he'll take care of you. And if he don't, I will. I'll make sure you eat all you want and are comfortable and I won't make fat jokes or piss you off and when it comes time, I'll let you break my hand if you have to…"

She shook her head, but he saw her mouth drifting into a smile.

"What's really bothering you?" Sawyer asked suddenly, knowing it wasn't Jack.

She shrugged her shoulders. "What if we get rescued?"

"What if we get rescued?" He repeated, confused.

Kate looked up at him and rubbed one of her wrists absently. "I go back with a baby, there's no more running."

"And what's so bad about that?"

"No more running means going to jail." Kate looked to the ground and touched her stomach, flinching before balling her hand into a fist and letting it drop at her side. "It means putting Jack through hell."

Sawyer reached forward and touched her chin, raising her face to look into her eyes. "Doc ain't dumb. He knows full well what he's getting himself into."

Kate shifted her chin out of his grasp and gave him a nod, walking away from him. Sawyer was tempted to follow, but he could see where she was going and he didn't want to be anywhere near the caves when she broke the news to the other man. He could just see Jack's face. He'd give her that look, the one where his lips are pressed together tight and his eyebrows are so high on his face they're almost in his hairline. And then he'd smile.

She would turn red, her head bowing as she looked from the ground to him with those big green eyes, Sawyer knew, and Jack would burst with some kind of girly squeal. Sawyer snorted a laugh and went further into the jungle. He'd officially lost her, he knew. And he hated that he cared.


	4. Chapter 4

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Sawyer watched her grow. It happened in the blink of an eye. She'd gone from the thin gal who climbed trees and hunted boar to the not so thin woman who did everything in her power to stay occupied without climbing trees and hunting boar because no one would let her. He saw her sitting against a palm tree staring out at the ocean with her hand on her stomach. She wasn't large, not like Claire had been, and he'd heard Jack worry over the lack of weight gain. Sawyer thought she'd gained enough weight. She was wearing Jack's longest shirts as dresses.

She stroked her belly slowly, her other hand lying in the sand. He followed her gaze, wondered what she was looking for. He'd wondered it since day one. She was always the first to plant herself on the shoreline and just stare off into the distance, but she was staring so far that he couldn't think she was looking for a boat or a plane. She was just staring. Sawyer wondered if she'd even see a ship if it went by.

"Hey Sawyer," Jack's voice made him jump and he heard the other man laugh at him.

"Doc," he said in reply. He shifted his gaze, finding Jack at his side. "Any sign of black smoke or crazy French chicks?"

For a moment Jack's smile vanished and his eyes became haunted. It was such a quick transition, it made Sawyer stand up straighter, as if he were suddenly paying attention and he planted a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I was only joking," Sawyer told him.

Jack laughed, lowering his head sheepishly. "Bad memories," was all he said.

"Don't worry Doc, we're all watching her."

Nodding, Jack took a step forward, letting Sawyer's arm slid off him. Jack watched Kate. Sawyer saw it in his eyes, what he felt for her, and it made him hurt. He'd never felt that before, not even for her. He wondered if anyone would ever look at him like that. "She's due mid February. First time mother, pretty athletic, young and healthy. I'm scared she'll go into labor early."

Sawyer sighed. "Like I said, don't worry." He nodded his head towards Kate. Claire was coming towards her with Aaron, who was walking now, his hand gripping his mother's thumbs tightly. The boy let go only for a moment to point at Kate and laugh. Kate poked his tummy and Claire sat down. "We're lookin' out for her."

Jack let his eyes travel back to Sawyer's. "They found Walt."

"Merry Christmas," Sawyer muttered, but his heart wasn't in it.

"We've got him back at the caves, he's…" Jack struggled. "Different. Older. Catatonic."

"What's wrong with him?" Sawyer asked.

Shrugging, Jack sighed. "Don't know. Michael won't leave his side. Jin and Sun are having some argument as to how to treat him. I don't even know where to begin. There's no physical abuse, no sexual abuse as far as I can tell – Michael won't let me examine him properly – but it's like his mind's not there."

"Charlie came back like that once, he's alright, ain't he?" He motioned towards the blond man who was now sitting on Kate's other side, his hands laid flat on her stomach as she talked to Claire and played with Aaron's fingers.

Jack pressed his lips together and tugged on the straps of his backpack. "I don't want her alone. Don't want them getting any ideas for trades." He paused, smiling as Charlie gave a hop and shouted something about kicking. "I have to get back to Walt."

"Jack," Sawyer called just as the other man had started walking away. "Why not keep them together?"

Shaking his head, Jack told him ominously, "I don't want her with him either."


	5. Chapter 5

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

He wasn't paying attention when he went into the jungle. Sawyer was getting bored on the island, and restless. He flirted with the other girls now. Maylin, Shannon, Rhonda, even the old woman, Rose – who still hadn't given up hope on her husband. He took care of all of them because he didn't know what to do with the one he felt responsible for. Sawyer hated himself for not being able to just forget her.

Just yesterday he walked into the caves to find Jack with his hand between her legs. He'd jumped and given a shout of surprise and the duo looked up at him. Kate sighed, unashamed and Jack explained he was giving her an exam. Sawyer just rolled his neck and walked away. Exam my ass, he'd thought to himself, remembering the beads of sweat rolling down both their faces.

Sawyer pulled a fruit off a tree and jammed it into his backpack. He took a long breath and removed his shirt, walking towards where he knew a nice little pond of water would be. The kid had been moved to the beach, he knew, where Michael talked to him all day and hoped for the best. He wasn't talking. Sawyer got the urge to smack him sometimes, the way he just stared at people now. It was almost like his brain was trying to make some connection – to remember how life was supposed to be, who these people were, what they were doing. Walt had said one word since he'd returned.

"Locke."

It made Michael stand up and punch a tree hard enough to break the skin on his knuckles. He'd become convinced the man had hurt his boy, or was involved with those who did something to his boy. Sawyer didn't look on Walt as a boy anymore. He'd grown a foot taller and on his chin were a few long hairs Jack trimmed.

"Sawyer?"

His head whipped around just before he undid his pants to enter the water and he saw her sitting on the wet sand, leaned against a rock. She smiled up at him and rubbed her head with the back of her hand. "Freckles?" He questioned.

"Got this far, needed to rest," she told him. She hated admitting she was tired, or in pain, or anything a normal pregnant woman would feel. Kate motioned towards her bag, several feet from her. "Could you get me my water, please?"

Sawyer jumped towards her, pulling his shirt back over his head and getting her pack. He eyed it curiously as he took the two steps towards her. "How'd this get over here?"

"I threw it," she told him with a shrug of her shoulder.

"Why?"

"I fell," she said simply, showing off the scrape to her knee. Sawyer watched her a moment, watched the way she fidgeted with the shirt. Something wasn't right here, he knew.

He knelt in front of her, took her water bottle and poured a small amount on the cut, handing her the bottle. She drank freely as he went through her bag, finding the small rag she kept and blotted the blood off her knee with it. He looked at her. Her face had rounded just a small bit and her eyes looked tired. Sawyer touched her forehead, feeling it burning under his fingers and he frowned.

"Why'd you fall?" He questioned suspiciously.

She squinted her eyes and pouted her lips. "I think…" she started, but shook her head.

"Kate?" Sawyer asked. "Don't lie to me. Not about this."

"I had a contraction," she told him on a short breath, looking away from him.

"When?" He demanded.

"About ten minutes ago?" She guessed, shrugging and swallowing more water.

"I should get you to Jack then," Sawyer told her, the other man's name sour on his lips. He felt her hand on his wrist and he looked back. "What?"

"Get Jack to me." Then she added, "I can't move."

"Why not?"

"I'm…" she trailed, "pain, I'm in pain." He watched the expression race across her face and saw just how quickly she hid it back underneath the surface. Terror.

Sawyer nodded his head slowly, but the shook it. "I can't leave you here by yourself."

"I'll stay with her," Locke told him, staring down at him from just behind her. "I've been watching her for a good long while now."

Sawyer stood, his heart leaping into his throat. "You need to get the hell away from her."

The other man touched the top of her head gently, almost caressing her dark waves and he grinned. "Don't worry, Sawyer. I'm fine."

"You're infected." He looked down at Kate. "You lied, he threw your bag." He held out his hand. "Get up and come with me."

Her eyes watered. "Sawyer, I'm having a baby. I'm not lying. I can't move." The desperation in her voice scared him and he pawed at the back of his pants for the hunting knife he usually had there. But it was gone. He'd lent it to Shannon that morning. Sawyer flared his nose and watched Kate pull her head out of Locke's hand. "Get Jack," she ordered.

"I'm not leaving you."

Locke's head jerked up suddenly and he looked into the woods. Sawyer debated whether or not he should tackle the man. Locke wasn't stupid, he was probably armed. He saw something move in the jungle and he took his attention off the man, towards the young man standing between two trees.

Walt didn't say anything; he just stared at Locke, whose hand dropped to his side. Locke began walking away from Kate and Sawyer jumped towards her, pulling her off the ground, ignoring her shouts. Walt shot off like lighting into the jungle and Locke took off after him. Sawyer put Kate's arm around his head and he forced her to run with him, but her legs faltered and she grabbed hold of his hair, making him slide to a stop and fall to the ground with her.

Kate bit down a scream and held her stomach, rolling onto her side, taking him down with her. Sawyer grimaced against the pain at the base of his neck. He wanted to smack her, but he knew it wasn't her fault. He promised her if he had to be there, he would be there and he'd let her hurt him if it made her feel better. That he remembered clear as day.

Her breathing slowed and her fingers relaxed and Sawyer sat up, pulling her into a sitting position against his chest. He put his hands next to hers on her belly. In eight months he hadn't laid a finger on her, he'd been scared to. Sawyer shook his head and looked up at the sky through the trees. He was so good at coming up with plans and now his brain was blank.

"We have to get moving," he whispered in her ear.

Kate leaned her head back against his shoulder, exhausted. Her eyes were still closed and she was taking small breaths through her nose. She shook her head. "I can't move."

"Moved just fine a minute ago," Sawyer told her angrily.

She sniffled and swallowed and tried to stand, but her legs shook and she fell to her knees, crying out. Kate shook her head and he stood, trying to get her up, looking around at the jungle. He couldn't see Walt or Locke and he didn't know which one to be more afraid of. He bent over and put an arm around her, heaving her off the ground. Kate grabbed hold of his shirt with her free hand and moved one leg in front of the other, shouting with each step.

"What's wrong?" Sawyer shouted.

"I don't know!" Kate shouted back.

It echoed in the silence. And then the howl erupted from somewhere close by and Sawyer felt his heart leap into his throat. "Oh, great," he muttered, dragging her. He could hear stomping as she pointed towards a large grouping of trees. Sawyer took her, feeling her fingers claw into him, trying to hold on. He saw her feet tripping over everything in their path and he reached down quickly, scooping her up and carrying her the distance.

They fell just inside the trees and Sawyer put himself over her, shielding her from anything that might attack them. It howled again, stomping away and he peeked up, seeing something large rampaging through the jungle. He could only hope it was going for Walt and Locke. Sawyer looked down at Kate and could see she was crying, her face contorted in a pain he couldn't understand. He tried to sit her up and she screamed.

"What's wrong!" He asked her again, more desperately.

Kate took his hand in response and pressed firmly, taking a few long breaths. "I lied."

"What'd you lie about?"

He watched the way she took labored breaths. "Two minutes. Maybe one minute. It wasn't ten. I was on my way to Jack. Locke found me. I tried to run. He was trying to catch me. I had a contraction. I fell. He kicked my bag away. He disappeared. Heard you coming. Didn't know if you were alone. With Jack." She paused to take a long breath. "You could. Kill him. I think."

She was breathing hard now. Sawyer felt her fingers constrict on his hand and he touched her head, smoothed away the curls that clung to her skin. "Hold on, Freckles," he told her. Then she gave a small jerk of surprise and tried to sit up. "What the hell's that?" Sawyer asked.

"My water broke."

"That ain't water, Kate," he cried. He touched her inner thigh and showed her the bloody liquid, watching her nod.

"Amniotic fluid. Not water. Some bloo…" she tried to sit up again.

Sawyer nodded slowly, realizing there was no way he could get her to Jack before the baby came. "I don't need a lesson in bodily fluids; just tell me what to do."

Sick of seeing her struggle, Sawyer put his hands under Kate's arms and pulled her up against the closest tree. She stared at him with sleepy eyes. "I push; you catch."

He laughed. "That all there is to it?"

Kate smiled weakly. "Clean her, him – when it comes out. Make sure the baby can breathe," she warned him, spreading her legs and planting her feet on the ground close to his knees.

He started to ask her another question, but she pressed her lips tight together and closed her eyes and Sawyer's eyes widened as he looked under the shirt, between her thighs. He moved closer, putting his hands on her ankles. She blew her air out in a laugh.

"Sawyer, I'm not doing sit-ups."

"Where you want my hands?" He shouted at her.

Kate shook her head and huffed a few short breaths before going into another push. Sawyer counted, because it's all he knew to do at the moment. He counted to ten and told her to stop pushing because her head was turning a bright shade of reddish purple that was frightening him.

"How long you gonna push?" He asked after the third.

Kate breathed a laugh. "Sawyer, it has to come out."

"It," he repeated. "You ain't got names picked out?"

"One." She held her breath and pushed again.

"Awe, shit," Sawyer let slip, seeing the beginnings of a head. She pushed harder and stopped, picking up her feet and slamming them roughly into Sawyer's shoulders. He jerked back, but pushed against the pressure she was putting there.

He watched the way she grimaced against the pain and then he looked down, quickly bringing his hands to her privates as a set of small shoulders escaped, followed quickly by two small arms, a round little belly and two skinny legs. "I think you got yourself a girl," he told her, cleaning the child's mouth and nostrils. "Kate?"

She calmed, letting her feet slide so her legs hung against Sawyer's back. He cradled the squirming infant against his chest as she wailed, pumping her legs and arms at him. Opening her eyes, Kate shook her head when he tried to hand her the child. "Get Jack," she told him.

"I ain't leaving you behind!" He pressed the baby onto her, forcing Kate to take her, and removed his shirt, wrapping the child up in it. Sawyer glanced around, and then listened. There weren't any howls or gunshots or any signs of Locke and Walt. He stood and picked Kate up in his arms, watching her instinctively clutch the baby closer to her as he ran through the jungle towards the caves.

He ran straight into Jack who stared, wide eyed, at the woman holding the baby in Sawyer's arms. Jack opened his mouth, but nothing came out as he ushered Sawyer towards a bed of airline seat cushions. Sawyer stood just behind Jack as he took the baby girl and examined her, separating her from her mother. Jack stood, gently handing the girl to Sawyer. He gave Sawyer a nod and Sawyer backed away a few steps, holding the little girl firmly against his chest. She was sucking her own thumb now, her eyes closed.

Jack pulled Hurley's shirt off Kate and began examining her, pressing onto her stomach and ignoring her when she moaned at him to stop. Sawyer touched the man's shoulder, "What are you…"

"Sawyer, take her outside a minute, please?" He motioned towards the infant.

Nodding, Sawyer went out of the caves and was met with a few of the inhabitants. Claire smiled and coddled the baby, with Charlie grinning at her side. Aaron babbled underneath them, his arms outstretched, wanting to be picked up to see the baby. Shannon came slowly, her eyes hollow, looking defeated and she touched the little girl's head, feeling the soft dark brown hair there and she grinned. It was the first time in months Sawyer could remember Shannon smiling. He glanced back into the caves, seeing Jack emerge.

"She alright, Jack?" He asked the man, turning.

Jack's mouth broke into a large grin. "She's fine, she just needs some rest." He looked at the child in Sawyer's arms. "A girl," he laughed. "She thought it was a girl."

Sawyer nodded slowly, letting Jack take his daughter and go back into the caves. "What's her name?" Sawyer asked.

Jack turned and smirked, looking down at his baby. "Maggie."


	6. Chapter 6

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Peeking into the cave, Sawyer could see Kate sleeping on her side. He stuck his head through the doorway and surveyed the large room, looking for Jack. The other man wasn't there, so he stepped inside, looking behind him cautiously. He didn't know what anyone else would read into it, he didn't really care.

He heard the gurgling beside Kate and stepped on tip toe, seeing the little girl who stared up at the ceiling with large dark eyes. She yawned and smacked Kate with a small fist, but the woman didn't budge, she just sighed. Sawyer sat on the ground next to the baby and watched the two. Maggie stretched her legs underneath a blanket and turned her head. He thought it looked more like she let her head drop, and now her eyes were on him. The baby yawned again.

"Sleepy, ain't you," Sawyer told her softly, touching her stomach with a long finger. Maggie pouted at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, moving his hand away.

The infant wiggled more and kicked his knee. Sawyer adjusted the blanket over her small body and brushed hair away from Kate's face, feeling somehow distant from them, despite his proximity. He didn't even shift when he heard Jack enter, just shrugged his shoulders and raised a hand towards them. "Can't have it, can I?"

"Sawyer?" Jack questioned, remaining at the entrance.

"The wife, the kid, the happy family. Ain't meant for me to have."

Jack stepped closer and watched as the little baby kicked at her blanket. Sawyer moved it over her legs again. "I don't understand, I didn't think you wanted any of that."

Sawyer looked up at him. "I thought if I found the right girl," he turned back to Kate. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Sawyer, you could still find the right girl," Jack told him.

Shaking his head, Sawyer pulled the blanket off the baby and put it over Kate's leg. "Kid don't like being covered. You might have a nudist on your hands, Jack." He smirked when the infant yawned. "She's cute."

"She's mine, Sawyer," Jack told him suddenly, sternly. Sawyer pushed himself off the ground and stared at the man who stood there looking determined. He didn't know what he was fighting for. Kate? Raising his eyebrows, he walked around Jack, back towards the entrance.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, curious. Jack didn't respond. The other man moved forward and sat on the ground. He removed the blanket from Kate's thigh, covering his daughter back up. Sawyer wondered what Jack would do if he told him he enjoyed being between his woman's legs. If he knew he'd deliberately run a finger over her core as he removed the baby. If Jack knew Kate had shuddered in response ever so slightly. Sawyer wondered what Jack would do if he told him he'd do it again in a heartbeat.


	7. Chapter 7

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 7

Kate grimaced and gave a small shout of pain as the infant on her left nipple bit down harder than usual. She wanted to call out to Claire, but the woman was down the beach walking with Aaron. Charlie was trying to teach him about the ocean, which didn't work because Charlie didn't know much about the ocean. Kate started to pull the girl back away from her chest, but her hand came up and grabbed hold of her hair.

"Dammit, Maggie!" She shouted in frustration. The baby released her hair and began to cry loudly. Kate froze, slipping her breast back into her bra quickly before shifting Maggie in her arms, so her head rested on her shoulder. Patting the baby's back, Kate waited, hearing her wailing in her ear. "I'm sorry," she whispered repeatedly, feeling her own eyes welling up with tears.

She found herself wanting to stuff the baby in the sand to keep it from screaming, which only made her cry loudly with her daughter. Loud enough to have Sawyer come crashing through the jungle and stumble along the sand, staring at her with wide frightened eyes. "What in the hell are you bawling about?" He shouted at her.

Kate gestured towards the child. "I don't know what to do with her."

"You fed her?" Sawyer asked, watching Kate nod her head, tears running down her cheeks. "You changed her?" Kate nodded again. "You burp her?" Kate shrugged.

"Jack usually does. I try, I try and she doesn't burp, she either screams louder or she vomits."

"Maybe you ain't doing it right," Sawyer shouted, taking the baby out of her arms and bringing her up to his chest. He clapped a large hand down on the small body three times gently and heard her let out a burp in his ear and then squeak of relief. Kate dropped her head onto her knees and her shoulders shook violently as she cried more. Sawyer fell on his knees, touching her back. "Kate?"

"I can't do this!" Kate shouted into her legs. "I can't be a mom. I suck at it. I can't make her burp, I can't make her smile, I can't make her do that giggle thing she does when she sees Charlie, Jack or Hurley. All I'm good for is a tit to suck on and a diaper change."

Kate knew she was five months old today. Old enough to start holding her own head up and to grin at people with those wide lips and stare at Sawyer with bright hazel-green eyes. She glanced over in time to see him poke Maggie's button nose and the little girl dropped her head back quickly, making him jerk in response, shifting her in his arms so she lay down and gurgled up at him.

"She doesn't do that for me," Kate added with another round of sobs. She felt Sawyer put an arm on her shoulder and he hugged her tightly, trying to make her feel better, but it only seemed to make her cry harder. Kate lifted her head and whipped her eyes, looking over at Sawyer, who was staring at the baby. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked her with a snort.

She took Maggie and held her against her chest. "For being a moron."

"Kate, you're not a moron," he told her flatly.

Standing up, Kate started to walk away from him, but he stood and followed. She turned to look at him every few seconds and he started to grin, kicking at the sand as he went. Suddenly he stopped and frowned, going back from where they'd come from, towards his shelter. Kate lowered her eyebrows, confused. She felt the waves lap at her bare feet and she looked down. "Dammit," she muttered, seeing her shoes where she'd been sitting before.

"Hey Kate!" Claire shouted over the waves just as she was going to turn back.

Smiling, Kate shifted Maggie and watched as Claire and Charlie approached with Aaron. The little boy had wild blonde curls, bright blue eyes and milk-white skin just like his mother. Kate didn't know what of him belonged to his father. "Hey," she responded weakly.

"Wee one not letting you get much sleep, is she," Charlie told her with a frown.

Kate shook her head. "She sleeps well, actually."

"Then," he pointed at her face. "You look like you've been crying."

Her vision fell to the sand and then to the ocean and then to Claire, who stared at her with an understanding that jolted her. Claire handed Aaron to Charlie and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "How about you take him to the caves? Jack wanted a look at how his rash is doing?"

"Oh, his rash is fine, it's all cleared up, checked this morning," Charlie told her, flashing a proud grin.

"Charlie?" Claire warned, her eyes going wide.

The man looked from one woman to the other and nodded his head. "If you wanted to do the girl talk, all you had to do was tell me to bugger off, I'd have gotten the hint. I'm not a complete idiot, you know?" He sounded upset, but he ended his sentence with a grin that made Kate smile. Charlie hoisted Aaron onto his shoulders and took off into the jungle talking about guitars.

Claire took Maggie from Kate and started walking down the beach. Kate felt empty and she crossed her arms over her chest awkwardly not really knowing what to do with her arms anymore. Five months they'd been occupied by a baby. "She's driving you insane, isn't she?"

Kate scratched her head, "Is it normal to have homicidal thoughts?" The smaller woman's head jerked up and Kate realized no one except Jack really knew what she'd done to land herself in handcuffs. "Claire, I'm not going to hurt her."

"Well, you know, you're a… you know… and you had… you know… and…"

Raising a hand, Kate nodded. "I get it, Claire." She let her hand drop and then she raised it again.

"Don't know what to do without her, do you?" The blonde smiled at Kate, seeing her arms fumbling against each other for something to occupy them. "Here," she handed Maggie back to her and Kate embraced the infant, kissing the top of her head. Maggie laid her head down on her mother's collar bone and closed her eyes, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"I love her to death, it's just, I don't know how to be a mom."

Claire grinned sheepishly. "Looks like you're doing just fine." She nodded her head back, "Not like I knew what I was doing and Aaron's turned out just fine. He's speaking now, you know."

"Really?" Kate whispered. "What's he saying?"

"Tar."

"Tar?" Kate questioned, lowering her eyebrows.

Claire nodded. "I think he's trying to say guitar; it's what he calls Charlie."

The duo shared a laugh before heading towards the caves. Kate watched when Claire approached Aaron. The little boy turned his head before they'd even made a sound, as if he knew she was coming. His lips broke into a wide smile and he wiggled away from Jack to wobble towards his mother, wrapping his arms around her legs as best he could and he looked up at her, resting his chin against her right knee.

Kate smiled, knowing soon Maggie would be a year old. She'd be wobbling around, looking for her and Jack. She felt Jack rub her left shoulder and her head drifted to look up at him. He grinned down at her, touching Maggie's back before planting a kiss on Kate's lips. She brought a hand up to his neck and pulled him into her, careful about their daughter between them. Kate felt her little girl tickling her neck and she looked down at her, seeing the small smirk playing on the girl's lips.

…

Finis


	8. Chapter 8

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 8

"Momma," Kate heard clearly, despite her heart pounding in her chest. She pressed a hand into Jack's chest and he stopped himself in mid thrust, bringing his head up from her shoulder to look down at her, confused.

"What is it?" He half mumbled, his breath coming out in ragged puffs of air against her face.

She sat up, forcing him to roll off her and she grinned at his penis, straight up in the air as he lay on the cushions next to her. "It's Maggie, she's having a nightmare," she told him, pointing to the bamboo wall they'd put up, dividing the cave. Jack put an arm against his head and then sat up, rubbing himself with his hand for a moment before grabbing a pair of jeans and pulling them on painfully. Kate stood and pulled a long shirt down over her naked body and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Just give me a minute, we'll finish."

He shook his head. "Nah, it's ok," he told her, as if to say Maggie comes first. She loved that about him. Most men would be upset – or at least the men she'd had experience with. He took several long breaths, lying back under the cool night air as she went around the divide and saw the little girl tucked into a bed of airline cushions and blankets. She squeezed her eyes tighter, calling out again for her mother.

Kate picked her up easily, bringing her to rest against her chest and she smoothed hair away from her daughter's face. She was two years old and scrawny. Kate knew it was from the constant motion. When she was awake, she was constantly moving, always talking, always getting up things and into things and stuck under things. Sawyer pulled her out from under a tree trunk just the other day, bringing her to Jack with a cut on her backside and her bottom lip thrust out in a pout that amused both men.

She was glad for Sawyer. Kate was just exhausted and Jack was always busy. Sawyer was good at rounding up Aaron and Maggie, who generally traveled together when they traveled off alone. They'd become like siblings, fighting over homemade toys and fruits and sometimes going to blows at each other.

"It's ok," Kate told the girl, watching her rub her fingers against Kate's arm. She listened as Jack came around the divide and sat behind them, letting Kate lean against him. He kissed her neck and then Maggie's forehead.

"She's a little warm," he told her.

Kate smiled. "She just had a nightmare, Jack, she's flustered."

Nodding, Jack shifted uncomfortable. "I think she's psychic," he teased. "This is the third time this week she interrupts us with a nightmare."

"Tomorrow, babe," she told him with the flash of a grin and the raising of an eyebrow. "In the jungle, like the old days." She picked Maggie up and brought her into their bed, laying down and putting her between them. Jack lay across from her and smiled at her. "I haven't asked how your day was," Kate whispered.

"You were a little busy today," he told her with a laugh.

Kate sucked her teeth playfully. "She ran off, I swear."

"You should have told me, I'd have looked."

"Yeah, well, you were a little busy too," she sighed, playing with her daughter's long dark hair. The girl had her natural waves and never let her brush them. She was coming close to bringing a knife to the hair to keep it under control. Kate watched Jack's face go slack, as if the play had left their conversation and she touched his arm. "I just mean…"

"I know what you mean," Jack said quickly, holding his temper.

Kate frowned. "I never see you. Maggie never sees you."

"She sees me all the time," Jack whined, feeling immature.

Shaking her head, Kate inhaled a long breath. "Jack, you busy yourself with everyone else and everything else on this island. It's like you don't have time for us."

Jack touched her chin, making her look him the eye. "I have all the time in the world for you."

She nodded slowly. "I know. I know." She bit her bottom lip and then admitted, "Maggie's starting to think Sawyer's her daddy."

"What!" Jack shouted, startling the little girl who screamed and began to cry.

"JACK!" Kate smacked his arm and grabbed hold of Maggie, bringing her into her chest. She tried to console the child, but Maggie continued to cry. Jack reached out and swung her quickly to him. The little girl pushed off him at first, but then calmed, and fell back to sleep.

Kate watched Jack close his eyes and cradle Maggie to his chest. She smiled at the duo and touched his cheek, making him look at her. "Love you."

Jack nodded his head, the corners of his mouth perking up. "Love you too."

…

Finis


	9. Chapter 9

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 9

"An' den momma, Chalee fall dan, an' den momma, Sawya fall dan, an' den we jump on dere tummies." Maggie gave a happy wiggle and sprinted to catch up with Kate as she smiled back at her.

"Really. And they let you jump on their tummies?" Kate asked, trying not to laugh.

Maggie nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yup. Sawya says he's a sucka fer pitty gers."

"What about Charlie?"

"Chalee's just silly, momma." Maggie laughed, rolling her eyes. Kate stopped, raising a hand, and she began to climb up a tree, throwing looks back down at her daughter every few steps. Maggie held tight to her mother's backpack, glancing inside to see the fruits they'd been picking all morning. "We gonna feed eveeone, momma?"

Kate laughed. "Not everyone, Maggie, but Sawyer's out with Jack hunting boar, that'll feed everyone."

"Not you, 'cause you don't eat meat," she made monster faces up at Kate. "Why don' you eat meat, momma?"

"Your mother is a vegetarian." Locke told the little girl. Kate dropped quickly, catching herself on a branch. "Vegetarians don't eat meat; they prefer vegetation such as fruits and vegetables." Maggie nodded at the man, taking in the information as Kate climbed down as fast as her body could take her. "Occasionally they'll eat chicken or turkey…"

"Get away from her, Locke!" She shouted, her feet skidding against the ground as she landed.

Locke touched Maggie's head. "I'm not going to hurt her, Kate." Maggie took a step away from him, towards Kate, but Locke grabbed her, lifting her up. "Don't worry, kiddo, I have no intentions of harming you."

Kate watched the man shift the little girl so she sat on his hip. "I'll kill you," Kate told him through clenched teeth. She already had her hand on a knife in her belt.

"I need your help; you need your daughter." Locke grinned. "I think we can come to some sort of agreement." Then he mouthed, "I'll kill her."

Putting her hands up towards him, Kate nodded her head. "Fine, whatever you want, John, just let her go."

"How do I know you won't run?" John smiled at Maggie, tickling her stomach and watching her giggle. "You're notorious for your lies, are you not?"

Kate nodded slowly. "John, on the life of my daughter, I swear I will help you."

John looked at the little girl, bringing his hand up to catch her chin and examine her face. Kate swallowed hard knowing if she lunged at him, he could plunge his knife into the girl's abdomen before she could do any harm. It wasn't worth the risk. She almost wished Sawyer were out in the jungle, stalking the duo like he usually did. He popped out during their outings and made up excuses, but she knew he was just looking out for them. John put the little girl down on the ground. "Now you run to your pop, tell him your mom's gonna help out an old friend, ok?"

Maggie looked up at her and Kate smiled, nodding her head and pointing back in the direction they came. Maggie started to run, but stopped. "Gotta take the fruit momma," she tried to lift the bag and Kate took a step forward, but Locke blocked her path, shaking his head.

"Baby, just go home, ok?" Kate told her, her voice wavering.

With a look of hesitation, she turned and began running through the jungle as Locke backed away from Kate. "She's a good little girl."

Kate nodded.

"I need your help finding Walt," Locke told her, pulling his knife out of his waistband and slapping it gently against his palm.

Licking her lips, Kate watched the small head of brown wavy hair until she couldn't see it anymore. "Why do you need my help? I thought you were the expert tracker."

"I've been watching you since I was exiled." Locke sighed. "All of you." He walked into the jungle and she followed, curious about his actions. "You're the expert. Where'd you learn to track?"

"My father," she spat.

"Wasn't a good man, was he," Locke pressed.

Kate watched the back of his head. She knew if she jumped at him now, he couldn't defend himself. She could snap his neck and he'd be dead and she could run off to her daughter, to Jack, and be safe. But she was scared. What if he was tougher than he looked? He was also infected. Kate didn't want to kill him only to find herself infected. She wasn't even sure how someone could get infected.

He turned and smiled. "You can walk ahead now; I'll show you where I last saw him."

Walking around him, Kate curled her upper lip slightly. She walked ahead of him, listening to his every move. If he tried to touch her, she'd break his arm. "My father was a sick man."

"Liked to play games with his girls?" Locke chuckled. "Don't tell mommy," he whispered into the wind.

The words made shivers run down her spine. She hadn't heard them in a long time. Kate felt her memories trying to break to the surface, but she shook them away. All she needed now was to have a panic attack, or to give into her suppressed rage.

"You had every right to kill him," he suddenly told her. "I expect one day you'll kill me, just for what I was thinking of doing to that little girl of yours."

Kate turned quickly, seeing the madness in his eyes. "You touch her…"

He raised a hand and looked disgusted, "Oh, I have no interest in touching her. She's just a little girl." Locke grinned knowingly at her, "We're not all like your father."

"What do you know about my father?" Kate grunted, walking when he pointed his knife into the jungle.

Locke shrugged. "Army man, US Rangers – taught you a bit of his ways – probably stationed in the North West by your tracking abilities and comfort in the wild. You don't get that way in the city or southern states. Probably gave off the air of a good man to everyone around him. Had the nice little doting wife and the beautiful daught..."

"Shut up." Kate frowned.

"Liked to sneak into the room at night, sometimes, drunk – more often not – and give you kisses while you slept. It'd be like any dad except his hands, see. They'd travel under…"

"SHUT UP!" Kate turned and swung at him, feeling him catch her fist and bend her arm behind her painfully, shoving her forward.

"This is where I last saw Walt."

"You're sick," she told him.

"I'm just looking for my boy."

"Walt's not your boy," Kate told him. She remembered Michael's face as he laced bamboo together to make walls for the large caves. They divided the large caverns into bedrooms, built walls outside for the showers and bathrooms. The man kept himself occupied because he'd given up hope of ever seeing his boy, his boy who would be almost fourteen.

Locke didn't respond, he just waited, staring at her. She wondered what the infection did. It obviously didn't have any physical alterations. After listening to Danielle, she expected Locke to be completely deranged. Kate half-wondered if the infection was really all that bad. Maybe Sayid had done something to deserve his death. Shaking her head, she lowered herself to the ground, examining the mud splashed about.

After a moment, she stood and pointed, "This way," she said, sounding defeated. She led him towards a stream and stopped, bending over and cupping her hands in the water. Locke handed her his bottle and she shoved it away.

"You're thirsty," he told her, sounding confused.

"I'll take my chances with nature," she sipped from her hands.

Nodding, Locke gave a short chuckle. "This 'infection' isn't so bad, you know? It just makes you see things more… clearly."

"Oh yeah?" Kate grunted, standing. "How's that?"

Locke grinned, but didn't answer, he just waited.

Kate glanced around, wishing someone were there, before looking back at the stream. "Locke, you know as well as I do that once a track hits a stream, it's gone. Walt could have traveled for miles along this and we don't know in which direction…"

He raised a hand. "Guess." Then he added, "We'll leave it to fate. You pick the right direction and lead me to Walt and I'll let you go back home to your beautiful little girl and your… what is Jack to you anyways?"

She picked left and began walking within the stream, examining the banks on either side for a sign that Walt had stepped back on shore. Kate hadn't thought about it. They slept together, had a child together, wasn't that considered marriage in some states? She smiled just a moment, imagining them having an actual wedding. Her in a white dress; him in a black suit.

Locke gasped suddenly and Kate looked up. Walt stood there, a few yards away, staring back at the old man with a frown on his face. Kate watched the boy as his eyes trailed down to her and she gulped slowly, wanting to apologize for even trying. She knew she should have been stronger than that. Three years ago she would have been stronger.

"You want me, John, not Kate. Let her go."

She started to step aside and Locke caught her by the arm. "I let her go, you'll just run away again, son."

Walt walked up to them and took Kate's hand, pulling her away from Locke. She was amazed she could look the boy in the eye now; he'd grown as tall as her. He was still thin, still haunted, and had traces of a recently trimmed beard. She smiled just seeing him alive. Most of them had thought him dead.

"LOCKE!" Sawyer shouted from somewhere close by. Kate took it as her cue to run and she felt Walt on her heels, directing her through the foliage. She didn't know where Walt was taking her, but she trusted him.

She heard her name on Jack's lips and she froze, sliding to a stop. Walt grabbed her arm and pleaded with his eyes for her to keep running. She shook her head, "No more running, Walt."

He clenched his jaw, knowing she wanted him to stop too. His head turned for a moment, towards where he had been heading and then looked back towards Locke. "He's going to come looking for your daughter. He'll kill her, like he did Sayid."

Kate pulled her knife out of her waistband and nodded. "Then we'll stop him."

Walt's lips trembled at the idea and he followed Kate back towards a tree, where she hid and listened. She held his hand, afraid to let him go. She wanted to bring him back to his father. She couldn't imagine how she'd be if Maggie disappeared. Kate felt him squeeze her hand and she glanced over at him, seeing him staring into the jungle, like the little boy she remembered from years ago.

She heard Jack gasp and popped her head around the corner. Jack and Sawyer were fighting with Locke, demanding to know where she was. Locke pulled two knives from his waist and smiled at them, egging them on. She knew Sawyer would take the bait first, bringing out his own knife as if it meant something and he lunged at the man. Locke moved quickly, slicing open Sawyer's forearm and kicking him aside.

Jack stood and shook his head. Kate saw him mouth the words, "I won't fight you," and she grimaced, knowing Locke wouldn't take that as an answer – not this Locke. It was as if nothing had changed, except, everything had because the moral compass Locke had lived by – even skewed as it were – was gone. Locke attacked Jack and Kate jumped out from behind the trees.

Kate threw her knife. She watched it zip through the trees and embed itself into Locke's forehead with a clunk she could hear even as far away as she was. Jack backed away from the man who fell in front of him and turned his head, feeling the blood starting to drip down his cheek from where the cold steel had grazed him. Kate locked eyes with him and her bottom lip began to tremble with fear as she let her arm drop to her side.

Jack walked towards her as Sawyer stared down at the body. Kate watched Sawyer's mouth drop open and his eyebrows fall in horror as he went with the other man. She met them halfway with Walt at her side. He was clinging to her shirt like a child and he stared at Locke also, seeming confused by the whole ordeal. What had he expected, Kate wondered, he wanted her to kill him, didn't he?

Taking her face in his hands, Jack stared into her eyes, watching them go wild as her actions settled in. "Kate?" He said softly as she brought her hands up to grab hold of his wrists. "Are you ok?"

Sawyer came up beside Jack and glanced around the jungle. "It's getting dark, we should head back."

Kate nodded her head slowly, but her legs felt weak under her. "I could have…" she started.

Jack shook his head, closing his eyes. "Don't do it, Kate. You did what you had to do." She looked up at him and he smiled, dropping a hand down to take hers. "Come on, Shannon has Maggie back at the caves."

Turning, Kate put an arm around Walt and pulled him towards her. The left corner of his mouth broke in a shy grin as he took a step with her towards the caves. She wondered what he was thinking. Why he'd been running? What he would have done if she hadn't killed Locke? If Locke was even who he was running from at all? She glanced around the jungle as Sawyer led the way and she shivered wondering if any of them were infected.

…

Finis


	10. Chapter 10

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 10

Maggie bounced off the rock into the water. She tucked her legs under her just before breaking the surface and splashed. Kate and Sun laughed, sunning themselves on the sand. Kate glanced over at Sun and sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a boat," Sun responded, touching her growing stomach. "I don't know how you and the others did it."

Sun's would be baby four on the island. The last was born two months before, a beautiful healthy little girl, to Steve and Tracey. Kate was worried for Sun, Jack thought her body might not be big enough for a natural birth. Kate frowned and looked away, knowing he shouldn't have told her that, but he wanted her to be prepared. He told Sun and Jin as well. Maggie paddled to shore and went around to the rock again, giggling when Sawyer yanked her off and swung her around in the air.

"Well, good afternoon, ladies," he drawled, holding Maggie upside down against his chest. Her feet hung over his shoulder and she grinned at her mother.

"Sawyer, put her down, she just had lunch," Kate warned.

He swung her right side up and planted her on the ground. "Go puke on your momma," he told the girl who rushed towards the women with a squeal and sat on her mother's lap. Maggie hugged Kate, laying her head on her shoulder as she continued to smile up at Sawyer, who grinned back, amused. Kate reached over and grabbed a blanket from her bag, wrapping it around Maggie and snuggling with her, rubbing the girl's nose with her own.

"So, newest Mamasita to hit the beach, how's it feelin'?" Sawyer sat next to Sun, who adjusted her t-shirt over her exposed belly. "Awe, nothing I ain't seen before. I delivered that one," he pointed a finger at Maggie, who buried her head in her mother's shoulder with a laugh.

"I feel just fine, Sawyer." Sun grinned and Sawyer held out a hand, looking at her as if to ask permission before laying it on her stomach. She nodded and he placed his hand on her belly gently, concentrating and then smiling.

"Jin said the baby was kicking up a storm, you two must be excited."

"Scared, actually," Sun frowned, looking at Kate who lowered her head, holding Maggie. She felt almost lucky when she had her daughter with her. So many things could have gone wrong that day. Locke could have killed her, Sawyer could have screwed something up, she could have screwed something up. But the real danger, she knew – because Jack had told her – was she could have died of blood loss.

Jack had been worried, asking her every hour that first day about how she was feeling. He let on to the others she was fine, but in reality, for several hours, he wasn't so sure. Kate remembered him bringing Maggie in and telling her to hold her. She remembered him crying when she didn't have the strength to. He told her she could die. He'd put the girl on her chest and she remembered he stayed with her until she slept and he was there when she woke. Kate glanced up at Sawyer, who chuckled at Sun.

The man gave Sun's shoulder a firm rub, "No worries, in a few months, Maggie'll have herself a new little cousin and we can teach Jin new words like 'diapers stink' and 'sonny, listen here!' and it'll be great." Sun smiled, watching Sawyer nod his head towards Kate. "So when you kicking out a second?"

"Second?" Kate shouted with a laugh.

Sawyer let his head roll to the side, and she watched long strands of blond hair falling from behind his ear. He needed a haircut. "Yeah, I heard you and Doc talking about it the other night."

Maggie raised her head. "That was what the private talk was about?" She looked at Sawyer. "Momma's face got all red and daddy made me go outside. Said they were having private talks."

"Naw, that was fighting," Sawyer corrected.

"Momma says fighting's bad, right momma?" Maggie pouted her lip, looking confused.

Kate nodded, standing. She felt Maggie wrap her legs around her waist and cling to her neck like a monkey. The girl was getting good at holding on. Kate strapped on her backpack, then lifted Sun off the sand and she nodded towards the caves, not far from them.

"We should be heading back, it's starting to get late."

Sawyer ducked his head, blocking their path. "Freckles, it's only afternoon."

Sun went around him, knowing she wasn't the one he was there to see. Watching her leave, Kate frowned. "She shouldn't be in the jungle on her own."

"No black smoke, no ominous messages or sounds in months. Think the others've gone dormant."

"Then they could wake back up at any moment," Kate reasoned.

"The others are bad," Maggie offered, frowning.

Kate shoved past Sawyer, knowing her daughter would have nightmares now. In her last one, Sawyer had become infected and had hurt her. Jack had told her again and again that Sawyer was fine, that nothing would happen to her. Sawyer was her uncle, he told her, he'd never hurt her.

…

Finis


	11. Chapter 11

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 11

Kate put a finger to her lips and Maggie silenced herself with an inhale and a sigh. She'd been talking non stop for twenty minutes telling her all about Walt teaching her how to climb trees, Sawyer reading her A Wrinkle in Time, Shannon painting her nails, Jin letting her help change the baby's diaper, Charlie playing bongos with her, and Hurley trying to show her how to juggle. But she was most excited about her father showing her how to play golf.

Maggie widened her eyes just like Kate did and they both shared a smile. "You," she poked her daughter's stomach. "Talk too much."

Maggie shrugged. "I had a busy morning."

"That was all this morning!" Kate laughed out loud and gave Maggie a prod so she'd continue moving.

They were taking a walk, like they always did in the afternoons when they had nothing else to do. Kate wanted her daughter to know her way home from anywhere. She was afraid of the Others coming again. There'd been a plume of black smoke the day before. It showed up for a couple hours and disappeared. Walt told them not to worry, he hadn't heard anything about a kidnapping in a good long time. Kate listened to him because he only spoke when it was important.

"Momma, why doesn't Sawyer have a girlfriend?" Maggie asked suddenly, kicking at a rock. The girl picked up a long stick and used it to poke at random trees, swinging around and hitting Kate in the leg softly with a smirk.

Shrugging, Kate responded. "Don't know; don't care."

"He likes you, momma." Maggie sniffled and rubbed her nose with her free hand.

Kate pulled a rag out of her bag and knelt in front of her, putting the rag to the girl's small nose. "Blow," she instructed, waiting until the child closed her eyes and blew her nose roughly into the rag. Kate grimaced, cleaning off her daughter's nose. Then she folded it, putting it into her pocket so she could wash it later. Maggie took a long breath.

"Much better," she sighed on the exhale. "You love daddy, don't you momma?"

Nodding her head, she mumbled an 'uh-huh' and watched as Maggie hopped from rock to rock and then balanced herself as she went along a log on the ground. Kate raised a hand quickly as her daughter lost her balance momentarily, but the girl recovered. Kate felt her heart thump double and she touched her head. "Yes, Maggie, I love your daddy."

Turning, Maggie lowered her eyebrows in an accusatory stare she'd inherited from her father. Kate stopped and stared back, challenging. Slowly, Maggie relented, walking and jumping over a thin stream and she started to climb up a small slope. Kate shook her head wondering what the stare had been for. She hadn't lied. Kate loved Jack; there was no question in her mind. They'd just been having problems.

"You fight too much," Maggie grunted, pulling herself over top of the slope and waiting for her mother.

Kate grabbed hold of a branch and went over the side easily. "We don't fight that much."

"You fight all the time," Maggie threw herself on the ground, crossing her legs in front of her and removing the small backpack she wore. Kate had found it in a pile of discarded items in the caves. Things that seemed useful, just not after the crash. It had Mickey Mouse on it and Maggie stole a permanent marker from Sawyer's stash to color it black. Kate could see the red pants coming through the fading marker. "I hear you when I'm sleeping, you know."

Maggie had the same slight lisp Kate had as a child, the one she outgrew with a good smack to the face at the age of five. She looked down at her daughter, a girl who never had to be told twice and had only been spanked once. Kate couldn't even bring herself to do it. She'd looked at Jack and whispered to him that he had to. Hearing the sound of her daughter sobbing an apology for breaking Charlie's guitar brought back a million memories she thought she'd never see again.

Shaking her head, Kate sat on the ground in front of her, spreading her legs out and seeing the child pull a banana and a small bottle of water out of her backpack. She pulled away the skin and chomped down on the yellow fruit, staring up at Kate. Kate frowned, rubbed her head and tried to think of something proper to tell her. She didn't feel like apologizing for her problems, or for Jack's. Maggie shrugged her shoulders.

"I know why you're mad at him."

"Are you mad at him?" Kate asked, curious.

Maggie considered, playing with the grass in front of her. "Yes." She frowned. "No."

"It's ok to be a little mad," Kate offered, knowing the confusion she must be feeling. "He doesn't spend the time he should with us and that's not ok."

"Is that why you fight?" Maggie lowered her head, as if feeling ashamed to ask the question. She took a sip of her water and re-capped it quickly, putting it into her backpack and burying the banana peel.

Kate shook her head and shrugged. "Sometimes. When you're older, you'll see how complicated it all is and how simple it all is at the same time." She poked the girl's nose and watched her smile.

"I love you, momma," Maggie told her, standing and moving to embrace her. Kate closed her eyes and took in a deep breath wishing she could just get Jack to stop being such an idiot. He blamed himself for Sun's death, even though he knew from the start it was possible. He spent all his time helping Jin now, feeling responsible for Shai. Kate was jealous; he hadn't spent that much time with Maggie in three years, since she'd been an infant herself. Now she was nearing four. If Kate remembered right, in only another two months.

Maggie's head came up quickly as the howl started somewhere deep in the jungle. Kate jumped, watching her daughter's eyes stare wildly out in the trees around them. She'd never heard it, not from the jungle. Maggie thought they were nightmares when it howled. She'd heard it from the beach or the caves, mostly at night. Never in the middle of the day. Kate thought they had the safe spots plotted out. There was a stomping and she heard trees being knocked over. Standing, she grabbed Maggie and pulled her off the ground, feeling her latch onto her body as she started to run, looking for a place to hide.

She felt a hand grip her upper arm tightly and yank her towards a bunch of trees. Kate shouted in fear, pressing her back against the trees farthest from the woman who pressed a finger to her own lips and shushed her. Watching Danielle, Kate gulped down air, feeling the earth shake under her as Maggie cried on her shoulder. Danielle turned, harshly and whispered,

"You must quiet her, now."

It took her a moment to figure out what Danielle meant; she was still trying to calm her own nerves. She hugged Maggie tightly, but then pulled her daughter's chin up out of her own shoulder, smoothing hair away from the girl's cheeks and Kate put on a brave face. "You have to be quiet," Kate told her softly, nodding her head. Maggie sniffled loudly and gave a short nod before burying her head back into Kate. She moped, but it was inaudible against her skin and she looked back up at Danielle, who stared at the duo.

The floor shook with several steps and Kate could almost hear it sway, searching for them. She turned around, putting Maggie against the tree, trying to make her feel safe and she felt the cool breeze playing on the sweat that soaked the back of her shirt. Kate felt exposed, but she heard her daughter breathing roughly against her. The trees shook and Maggie raised her head, giving a short shout before Kate clapped a hand down on her mouth. Kate felt something warm press against her back and realized it was Danielle.

Pressing her back against Kate's, Danielle looked up through the trees, trying to determine whether it was safe. "We must remain where we are, make sure it's safe to move."

Kate turned her head slightly, nodding. She brought herself slowly to the ground, letting Maggie put her feet down and she knelt in front of her, adjusting her small pink shirt. It had been packed away inside the Mickey Mouse backpack along with two others – orange and turquoise – and some jean shorts that fit Maggie too big. It belonged to a six year old girl named Emily Tylor Sanchez who'd been traveling with her parents and older brother Rene. Aaron was now the proud owner of far too many Power Rangers shirts and no clue as to who they were.

Charlie had tried to explain.

"She's four now, no?" Danielle asked after a few moments.

Kate undid the vines she'd been using as a belt for Maggie and retied them tighter. Then, she adjusted the straps on her daughter's backpack to make sure it didn't fall off if they had to start running. Maggie watched her, but let her vision fall upon the wild woman she'd never seen before. Kate glanced up at the girl, seeing her staring at Danielle and she lifted her off the ground, balancing Maggie on her hip.

"You're old," Maggie told the woman, who laughed. "And your voice is funny."

"She's French," Kate corrected, feeling her own cheeks burn red.

"What's French?" Maggie asked her.

Danielle hung her rifle over her shoulder and sighed. "Your mother is from America – that is one continent. Do you know where America is?" The girl nodded slowly. "I am from France. It is another continent across the ocean."

"I know what that is too!" Maggie bounced her head once.

Kate bit her bottom lip and looked out into the jungle. "I thought we were safe here."

"You stepped over the boundary an hour ago. I was surprised it took as long as it did for the security system to react."

"A flaw in the system?" Kate asked, curious. If there was a flaw, they could find it and destroy it. But Danielle shook her head. "How long have you been following us?"

"Don't you know?" Danielle grinned. "I would have thought having a child would have made you more alert."

Kate felt ashamed. Like she'd let her daughter down. "We should get back. Jack will be worried."

Nodding slowly, Danielle stuck her head out from between the trees and then began walking towards the ocean, waving an arm so Kate would follow. "I have tried to keep an eye on the girl since the day she was born."

"Why?" Kate didn't mean to sound angry and she grimaced.

Danielle lowered her eyes to the ground and Kate could read the sorrow there. Maggie reached over and touched Danielle's shoulder, making the woman jerk in response. Flinching, Maggie apologized quietly. "Thanks," she added quickly before laying her head down on Kate's shoulder.

"For what?"

Maggie made a monster face and roared, chomping her teeth. "Saved us from the monster."

"Your mother would have protected you," Danielle assured her.

Nodding, Maggie asserted, "Oh, I know."

Kate grinned as Danielle laughed. They didn't say another word and by the time the jungle trees gave way to the sand and the ocean, Kate had a sleeping child hanging limp in her arms. Jack approached quickly, looking panicked, but Kate smiled and he nodded, touching Maggie's back. The girl moaned in her sleep as Kate passed the girl to her father. He touched Kate's cheek and looked at Danielle, curious.

"What…" he started.

Danielle shook her head and looked towards Kate, "Two more in your group are infected. You should know. They attacked the others yesterday."

"The smoke…" Jack trailed. Kate could see his mind at work, trying to recall who he'd seen in the last twenty four hours and who he hadn't.

"Who?" Kate asked, pressing her hands onto her waist, exhausted.

Danielle thought a moment, as if trying to remember. "Claire, and the man with the strange glasses."

…

Finis


	12. Chapter 12

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Chapter 12

"Maggie, come out NOW!" Kate stood at the edge of the water and stared at the child who waded close to the center of the pool. Kate took in a long breath, feeling her stomach bubbling with anger.

Maggie pointed at the waterfall behind her. "I just wanna swim to the waterfall and back."

"For the tenth time! No! Get out!" She pressed her lips together tightly and kicked off her shoes. Just as she pulled her shirt over her head, Maggie shouted, "ok, ok," and began swimming back towards shore.

Kate sighed in frustration. She watched her daughter paddle her way to the rocks at the edge of the water and climb out, slapping her bare feet onto the sand as she came to stand in front of her mother. Maggie frowned as Kate wrapped a blanket around her small body and began trying to dry her off. Kate felt her cheeks burning. Her temper had been flaring since she'd had to tell Charlie that Claire was now infected.

The woman had walked into their camp and started to walk off with Aaron. The boy immediately pulled away, before Kate and Jack arrived. He rushed to Kate's side, gripping her thigh and she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Mommy's sick," he whispered up at her. She'd run off into the jungle and they hadn't seen her since. Charlie spent his days with Aaron in the company of Jack and Hurley.

Looking out into the jungle, she kept an eye out for movement as she pulled a shirt over Maggie's head that fit snugly and then held out her shorts. The girl grabbed Kate's shoulders, putting one leg and then the other and waited patiently while her mother pulled the shorts up. Maggie understood she was in trouble, so she watched the jungle while Kate tied the vines at the front of her shorts and she watched her mother fold up the blanket to shove it into her pack. Kate sat on the ground and pulled her own shirt over her head, then pulled her shoes towards her.

"I'm sorry, momma," Maggie whispered.

"This a new phase?" Kate asked quickly. "I ask you do to something and you ignore me?"

Maggie shook her head. "I just wanted to swim a…"

"We have to get back to the caves before dark, you know that!" She shouted, hearing her voice echo through the jungle. Maggie jumped back. "Baby, it's not safe out here at night."

"Baby, it ain't safe during the daytime," Sawyer cracked back from a nearby tree. Kate jumped up and grabbed Maggie, putting the girl behind her. Sawyer glanced around. "Nowhere to run, Freckles. Just you, me, the birds and the bees." He pointed, "And the twerp."

Maggie started to say something, but Kate gave her a quick tug towards the jungle. Sawyer moved in the same direction. "Sawyer, what do you want?"

"Awe, now, I thought I'd been plain about that from the start," he smiled, his dimples deep and his eyes wide. He raised his eyebrows quickly and then looked down at Maggie. "Just want myself a good little family. Pretty wife, little girl, maybe a few more, and a house in a tree."

Kate felt her bare feet brush against leaves and vines and she wondered how quickly he could run. He'd caught up to her once before and now she'd have Maggie. Clenching her jaw, she started to devise a plan – he wasn't a very good climber, she could be up a tree and be able to take him there with no problems. But Sawyer also wasn't stupid, he'd just wait her out.

"Come on, Freckles, wanna play house with me?"

Shaking her head, Kate knelt slowly and Maggie jumped up on her back, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly. Giving Sawyer one good look over, Kate dashed into the jungle. She felt Maggie's legs encircle her midsection as she jumped over a log and went around a large tree trunk that lay at an angle against another. Kate heard him behind her, catching up. If she could just get far enough, she could shout and someone would hear her.

"Can't lie to yourself, Freckles," he told her calmly. "Ain't nothing Jack can do this time. You're mine."

She felt her chest release a sob just before he tackled her. Kate landed hard on her left shoulder, making sure Maggie's legs weren't crushed and she shouted, feeling something pull painfully. Kate was suddenly aware of the fact that Maggie wasn't on her anymore and she jumped up, feeling Sawyer's fist connect with her face, sending her back to the ground with a shout of surprise.

Kate heard Maggie cry out and she looked up just in time to see the girl's body hit the ground several feet from her, next to a tree. Sawyer's hands gripped her arms and he straddled her, shaking his head slowly. "Kids, never listen, do they?"

"Sawyer, please, don't…" she cried, feeling her blood freezing in her veins. "Don't do this, not like this, please."

He stopped a moment and stared down at her. Kate could swear, for just that moment, he was himself and he frowned. She took the chance and pulled her arms loose, throwing a blow at his stomach and then his face and she scrambled to get away when he fell over. Rushing towards Maggie, she started to pick her up, but she felt him grab her and toss her against a tree. Kate groaned and he slammed himself into her, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"Just play nice, Freckles," he whispered in her ear as she gasped. Kate could hear him undoing his belt buckle and she shouted, elbowing him in the gut and she ran away from him, towards the beach. He wouldn't hurt Maggie, she told herself over and over, but the thought of abandoning the child made her legs slower and as she glanced back, she saw he was on her tail. Kate thrust herself forward, but he caught the back of her shirt and pulled her hard, then punched her, kicking her feet out from underneath her. Sawyer landed on her and hit her again.

Kate struggled, trying to keep his fists from her, but he knocked the air out of her again and then she felt something slice through the flesh of her left shoulder and she shouted out in agony. Her hands tried to find the source, but her vision was blurred and he slapped her hands away. Kate felt him tugging at her pants and she moved her legs, trying to kick him, but he hit her again. Kate knew if she let him have his way, it would happen faster. If it didn't happen faster, eventually she'd pass out from the pain.

Slamming her eyes shut, she gave up.

…

Finis


	13. Chapter 13

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Jack touched Aaron's cheek gently, seeing the small boy flinch as he examined the cut. He'd been running along the beach and tripped, hitting his face against a large seashell. Jin handed him an ointment and he nodded his thanks, spreading the grey substance on the boy's face. Aaron closed his eyes and hissed, kicking the rock he was sitting on.

"All done," Jack told him with a gently slap to his knee.

"Is my face going to get infected?" Aaron asked quickly. It was a word that made anyone in the camp jerk, especially coming from the boy who'd lost his mother.

Shaking his head, Jack smiled. "No, Aaron, you're face is going to be fine." He didn't dare utter the word again. Jack looked out at the sky and sighed, wondering where Kate and Maggie could be. It was getting dark; they were supposed to be back hours ago. She'd promised him she'd bring their daughter back long before dark.

Charlie put a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "And that there, man, is why we don't run along the beach like a sodding dog."

"Dude's right," Hurley agreed.

From a corner, Walt gave a short chuckle and then stood, glancing about. Jack stared at the young man curiously, watching as his eyes darted from one side of the jungle to the other. He started to ask him a question, but Walt shook his head and then ran off.

Hurley watched the boy go and asked Jack, "We gonna follow him?"

Jack waved him off and went back to crushing flowers against a rock. "Nah, probably hears a boar or something."

"Have you heard from Kate, Jack?" Charlie asked. "Thought she was supposed to be back a long time ago."

Nodding, Jack looked at Aaron. "I'm sure they're taking the long way home." He laughed. "You know how Kate and Maggie are, they both like to explore, even if it drives me insane."

Charlie told Aaron to go lie down inside the caves with Shannon and Vincent and approached Jack, his voice hushed, "Heard you two fighting last night," he admitted. "Whole camp heard. Shannon slept with Maggie, said the girl was terrified. Had nightmares."

Jack lowered his head. "Maggie always has nightmares."

"Jack, you two going to get some kind of island divorce?"

Laughing, Jack looked up at Charlie, nodding when Jin took the flower from his hand and continued to crush it into a fine white powder. It was for headaches. "Charlie, don't worry. Kate and I are both stubborn, we're both smart and we both think we're right. It's bound to cause some fights along the way."

Nodding, Charlie sat on a rock. "I don't think all the fighting's good for the kid though, I mean, she's starting to push Aaron around."

Jack's face hardened as he stood his full height over the smaller man. "Charlie, I don't hit my wife and she doesn't hit me."

The other man smirked. "You called her your wife."

Jack blushed and shrugged it away. He listened to the jungle a moment and sighed. "She really should have been back by now."

"Worried?" Charlie asked, curious.

"Dude, I'm sure she's out there wrestling some boar. She'll come into camp all bloody in a couple hours and we'll be singing her praises while we roast up the meat." Hurley gave Jack a friendly slap on the back before going into the caves. "I'm going to check on the little dude."

Charlie grinned, thankful. Jack watched the man, saw the expression of guilt and sadness cross his eyes in a flash. He wished he could make everything alright for Charlie. He'd been trying to study the infection for a while. He was pretty sure it was a psychological sickness, somehow deteriorating parts of the brain.

He'd done an autopsy on Locke, much to Kate's disapproval, and had found nothing out of the ordinary. But without the proper equipment, Jack couldn't make official prognosises. If they found Claire he could talk to her, try to find out what it was, how they could treat it. If they found Sawyer, Jack would worry. Maggie's nightmares, the ones she didn't tell her mother about anymore, involved Sawyer.

Jack felt a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "About time…" he started, turning to see Shannon, who grimaced just a little bit before shaking her head. "Sorry, thought you were…"

"Kate, I know," Shannon replied slowly. "She's not back yet?" She asked curiously, her vision turning to the jungle. The sun had gone down at least an hour before, if not longer. "Jack, I'm worried," she admitted.

Nodding, Jack watched Jin brushing the white powder into a small glass baby food container. "I'm starting to worry myself." It wasn't something he liked to admit, but Jack didn't buy Kate's 'strong girl' act all of the time. He knew she had vulnerabilities. He'd seen them late at night, in her nightmares, when she gripped the airline pillow and pushed him away from her. When she whispered to her father to stop.

"Jack," Shannon said his name simply, bringing him out of his fears for a moment. "You should get some rest."

He went into the caves and he let her lead him to the farthest cave where the bamboo wall was covered in strange stones and mud drawings Maggie had put there over the years. Jack sat on the bed and watched Shannon turn her back on him and leave. The woman had become Maggie's nanny anytime Jack and Kate needed privacy. For the fighting and for the loving and for anything else.

Jack's eyes closed after a few hours and he only awoke when he heard people at the entrance shouting his name. He jerked up and ran through the caves disoriented. His eyesight was failing him from the sleep still there and he rubbed them, hearing Charlie shouting his name in a panic.

Emerging from the caves, he saw Walt standing there with Maggie in his arms. The girl was sleeping. Please, God, let her be sleeping, he prayed. Jack blinked several times and went to Walt, taking his daughter from him and placing her on the airline cushions at the entrance, next to what was left of the medical supplies. He examined her quickly, finding the bruising on her back.

Jack brushed her cheek softly with his fingers and heard Shannon breathing next to him. She bent down and took Maggie's hand, calling her name. "She's unconscious," Jack assured her, watching Shannon's eyes glide up to meet his as he nodded.

Giving his daughter one more look-over, he stood and went to Walt, taking hold of his shoulders. "Kate, where's Kate?"

Walt shook his head. "She wasn't there Jack."

Jack stared down at the ground, flaring his nose and pursing his lips and then he raised his head. "Where did you find her?"

"Jack, you don't want to go…" Walt started.

"Take me."

"There's blood everywhere, Jack," Walt warned him sternly. "I can pick up her trail, but do you really want to find her?"

Nodding, Jack shoved him towards the jungle. They walked as the sun rose and Walt took him to the tree where he'd found Maggie sprawled on the ground. Jack walked several feet away and stood over the blood soaked ground.

Walt touched his shoulder, "She didn't see anything, Jack. She was unconscious." The boy pulled him to continue walking. They went through the trees and found Kate's pants discarded near another red mess. Jack vomited while Walt held him steady.

"Jack, she's still alive," he told the man.

"How do you know?" Jack heaved on an empty stomach.

Walt stood and started to run, shouting back, "I want her to be."

Jack didn't ask what he meant, he just started running. The trees slashed at his arms and face and he felt something squish under his foot, something that squealed, but he didn't look down. Walt jerked to the right and Jack followed, trusting the boy. His legs felt wobbly and when Walt came to a stop, Jack halted himself and prepared. Walt turned slowly, his eyes terrified and Jack covered the distance, touching Walt's shoulder quickly before looking ahead.

Sawyer laid on the ground next to her. He rolled on his side, touching Kate's face gently as he muttered something in her ear. Kate moaned in response and Sawyer stood, laughing. "Come on, Freckles, ain't that bad!" Sawyer shouted just before Jack rammed him in the back. He slammed him into a tree and began punching into the other man, hearing him gasp with each blow.

Jack felt Sawyer's knee come up into his crotch and he fell over in pain. Sawyer started to attack Jack when Walt came forward quickly, slicing at Sawyer's chest with a small knife. The boy chased Sawyer into the jungle and Jack pulled himself up, crawling to where Kate lay. Her breathing was shallow and her left shoulder was crusted with red where she'd been stabbed. Jack closed his eyes a moment when she grimaced against his touch. She turned her head away and tried to roll onto her side, but she squeaked in pain. Jack pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around her naked bottom, picking her up off the ground.

He walked until his legs couldn't carry him anymore. Collapsing on the ground, he looked down at Kate in his arms. She wasn't moaning anymore and he jerked, placing her down and feeling for her pulse. "No, no, no," he muttered over and over, feeling the weak thump against his fingers. "Come on, Kate!" He shouted at her, seeing her eyes flinch just a bit.

Jack looked up at the sky through the trees and he hollered, "HELP!"

Soon Charlie, Hurley and Jin were crashing through the jungle. The trio stopped short, seeing them lying on the ground. Hurley stepped forward first, picking Kate up quickly and Charlie adjusted the shirt over her before turning to help Jack off the ground. Jin joined the blonde haired man and they headed back to the caves.

Shannon jumped up from Maggie's side, seeing the men coming with Kate. Jack shouted, "Move her, move her, move her!" And Shannon picked Maggie up, taking her into one of the back caves.

Hurley put Kate down, jumping back when she screamed. Jack ripped at her shirt and looked up, "Get me water," the men didn't move, "SOMEONE GET ME WATER!" Jack hollered, watching Jin rush to get rags while Charlie and Hurley went to grab water bottles from the edge of the small pool of drinking water. They handed the bottles to Jack, watching him pour it over her shoulder wound as she moaned. He rubbed it with a rag until all the crust was gone and it was again bleeding freely.

Charlie turned to the trees and vomited and Hurley held him up. "Dude, I got this, go find your kid," Hurley told him softly.

Jack felt Hurley wipe stand at his side, waiting, as he examined Kate slowly. Pressing his fingers into every part of her body, Jack made mental notes whenever she shouted in pain. He figured she had a few bruised ribs, but aside from her shoulder wound, there weren't any other major injuries. Hurley turned away when Jack removed the shirt and spread her legs. Jack watched her hands grip the cushions under her as he poured water over her. She was dirty and… Jack stood and kicked a bamboo basket Hurley had made, breaking the side and sending it flying.

"Dude? What is it?" Hurley asked quickly, not turning to look at the woman who lay exposed two feet from him.

Jack gnashed his teeth and shook his head. "She's full of… him," Jack growled, going back to cleaning her.

"She's lost a lot of blood, man," Hurley pointed out. "I know this is kind of… bad… but it doesn't matter how clean she is if she dies."

Lowering his head a moment, Jack nodded slowly to Hurley just a second before grabbing some supplies from the medicine drawers and he went to work with the needles and the tubing on his arm.

"Awe, dude, not this again."

"She's O neg; I'm O neg. Any other brilliant plans?"

"Naw, you're the doctor. Just," Hurley started, "Don't overdo it."

Jack let himself chuckle. He inserted the other needle in Kate's arm just as the blood hit the tip and watched her face flinch. He tied it down with twine and whispered in her ear what he'd done, knowing Kate would listen. Touching her burning forehead, he frowned and began working on her shoulder.

He wasn't sure how much damage was done. He hoped Sawyer hadn't severed any arteries. He was sure it had gone through the muscle, but muscle will take care of itself to an extent. Jack rubbed his left arm, starting to feel himself get a little woozy, but he saw her cheeks had gone from ashen to pale, so there was some improvement.

An hour later, he bandaged her arm and sat down, feeling the sweat soaking his back. Kate looked like she was sleeping. He allowed himself to relax in the knowledge that she was. Jack wrapped his own arm and sighed, closing his eyes. He leaned back against the rocks on which the cushions and Kate lay.

"Daddy?" Maggie called softly, touching his knee. Jack's head flew up and he saw the little girl who looked at him with sleepy eyes. "Sawyer's a bad man," she muttered, moving forward into his arms. The little girl cried softly against him and he cradled her, glancing up at Kate. Jack sobbed loudly, feeling Shannon wrap him and Maggie up in a blanket. The other woman hugged them a moment and Jack could see she had a firm grip on both his hand and Kate's.

"Hey, you guys have been through worse, right?" Shannon offered. Her voice cracked and Jack could hear she'd been crying. "You'll get through this. She'll be ok; Maggie'll be ok." Shannon smiled when the little girl looked up at her.

"Sing the ocean song," Maggie whispered.

Jack smiled and listened as Shannon began to sing a song that reminded him of old days when the world was so insane that animated fish brought happiness to his heart. He fell asleep shortly after.


	14. Chapter 14

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

"Jack, please," Kate asked again. He watched as she looked up at him from the corner she sat in and cried. Her eyes were permanently bloodshot and her cheeks were flushed. Sitting on their bed, he shook his head at her.

"Why don't you sit up here?" He asked, patting the bed next to him.

Kate shook her head and took a long breath. "Why are you doing this to me?" She pleaded.

He frowned. Jack rubbed the stubble of his beard and nodded his head. "I'm doing this to you."

Kate heaved a breath and shouted, "You're a doctor. You can do it. You can do it and it'd be over and we can go back to being normal again."

"Nothing is ever going to be normal again, Kate." Jack felt horrible saying it to her, but he was starting to get sick of her whining. He understood it, if he were in her position he'd be doing the same thing, but he knew what was best for her. Jack knew what was safest for her.

She let her hands fall on her growing stomach and flinched, jerking them away. Her face crumpled and she began to cry again. "I don't want this baby, Jack!" She put her hands to her eyes and covered her face as she cried.

Jack knew if he let her, eventually she'd fall into a trance, or she'd fall asleep. It was how the last five months had been. Maggie told everyone her mother was sick; Jack told them she was depressed. He couldn't tell how many times Sawyer had raped her, he'd asked Kate once. She told him ten, twenty, thirty, forever. Kate was delirious then, an infection spreading in her shoulder. Jack gave her the last of the antibiotics, the bottle he'd been saving for a big emergency.

Then he had to remember what Sun taught him about plants and flowers. With Jin's help, they made powder that could be mixed into drinks and they made more ointments to kill the pain. But without the pain to keep her mind occupied, she didn't sleep. Jack thought Maggie being with her would help, but she pushed the child away. Kate curled up in a ball on the ground and slept in a corner.

"I thought it was over when I killed him," she muttered one night just before dozing off. Maggie had heard. Since then she'd become afraid of her mother.

Shannon entered the room with the little girl at her side. "She wants to say good-night," the woman told Jack.

He nodded and put his arms out, watching as the girl looked towards her mother who was sobbing in the corner and then to him with wide eyes. Maggie ran towards him, jumping into his lap and gripping his neck. "Is momma gonna get sick like Sawyer?"

Jack hadn't even thought about it. He didn't want to consider it. He had no clue how the infection traveled. Jack held Maggie tightly. "Momma's just sick."

"Uncle Charlie says momma's gonna have another baby," she whispered.

Nodding his head slowly, Jack licked his lips and looked down at her. What did he tell her about this? He looked up at Shannon, who shook her head, as if prompting him not to say anything. "Don't worry, Maggie, momma's gonna be alright soon enough, you'll see."

The girl kissed his cheek and jumped off his lap, looking in Kate's direction. She took a step towards her, and inhaled deeply, gathering courage to cover the distance and put a hand on her mother's. Maggie bent forward slightly, watching Kate peek out from between her fingers. The girl grinned sheepishly and pulled her mother's hands away. Kate ripped her hands away from her daughter and she wiped at her tears, muttering an apology.

"Don't worry, momma," Maggie told her, "I still love you. And you'll be better soon, daddy says so."

Jack watched Kate's head bob in response and she raised a hand to touch Maggie's nose, making the girl giggle nervously. Maggie stopped suddenly and threw herself at Kate, wrapping her arms around her neck. Kate looked shocked, Jack saw, but closed her eyes and pulled her daughter in for the embrace. Jack felt his eyes welling up, hoping for what he knew wasn't going to happen just yet. The girl pulled away and walked back towards Shannon, who whispered a good-night and left.

"Kate, for her…" Jack started.

She shook her head. "Please, Jack, just kill the baby."


	15. Chapter 15

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Jack watched her try to prevent it and he smacked her hard. Kate's eyes went wide as she put a hand to her cheek and stared at him. He pushed her shoulders back and forced her to lay down, seeing Hurley approach again and ask if he could help. Jack raised a hand, one that made the other man shake his head and step away.

He'd never hit her before. Not in nine months of complaining and begging. Not when he walked into the caves after a shower to find her trying to slit her wrist. Not when she kicked him. Not when she punched him. Not when she screamed at Maggie to get out. Jack had never thought to. And now she lay on the cushions staring at him in shock.

"Why?" She whispered.

Jack moved forward on his knees and he took her hands together in his. "Kate, I love you," he started, watching as she shook her head against the words. "I would die if I could make it better." Jack took a long breath. "You have to push the baby out."

"If I don't, I die and it dies with me," she threatened.

He touched her cheek and watched her eyes look away from him when he cried. Jack couldn't even find a response for her; he just let his eyes fill up and blinked, letting tears roll down his cheeks. Kate slowly looked at him and her bottom lip trembled. "I know what you're afraid of, Kate, but it's not going to happen. None of it."

She shook her head. "What if he's infected?" She whispered.

"You think it's a boy?" Jack asked, curiously. Kate nodded her head slowly. Kissing her forehead, he pulled her legs apart and took a long breath. "Please, Kate, on the next one, push."

He watched her struggle. Jack had noticed it in the last hour, that struggle. He guessed it'd been going on since the day she figured out she was pregnant. Love it or don't love it. Until now she'd chosen not to, but he knew she couldn't do it, didn't have the hate for the man who did this to her because he knew she still believed it wasn't Sawyer's fault at all.

Kate blamed herself. She punished herself.

Jack watched her face as she took hold of the cushion and closed her eyes and pushed. Her lips pursed together and her forehead broke out in a new coat of sweat. But she was doing it. He watched the baby crown and he told her to stop. Hurley approached again and Jack motioned for him to stand behind Kate. The man, who had once fainted at the sight of blood, stood behind Kate and held her with firm arms, putting his chest against her back so she could lean on him. She took Hurley's hand and Jack nodded and she pushed again.

This time the child came out and Jack uttered a 'whoa' as the infant squirmed in his arms just enough to make him nervous. He put a finger into the small mouth and nostrils and listened as the baby hiccupped and then squealed, but didn't cry. "You were right," he told Kate, lifting the child so she could see. "Boy."

Kate looked away a moment and Jack frowned. If she abandoned the baby, it would probably die. But her eyes slowly came back to the infant and she put up her arms. Jack was afraid, hesitating before wrapping the boy up in a small blue airline blanket and putting him on Kate's stomach, watching her pull him towards her chest. Her eyes welled up and a tear hit the child's forehead and he blinked up at her. Jack crawled over to her side and he touched the small bald head.

"He's quiet," Jack noted.

"Maggie screamed like a hellcat," Kate told him.

"He needs a name, doesn't he?" It was his way of asking what she was thinking. What she was going to do? What Jack should feel? Could Jack finally relax?

There was a moment when she remained still, staring down at him as she touched his small chest and watched him wrap a small hand around her finger, his eyes never leaving hers. "Before this – before the island – before the cons and the fucked up life, Sawyer wasn't Sawyer," Kate told Jack.

He waited, wondering.

"His name was James. I read it on a letter a long time ago. James Ford. He was just an innocent little boy." Kate touched the child's lips. "A boy with big dreams and loving parents…" she sighed.

Jack nodded and watched her as she cradled the child closer to her. "Then his name should be James."

"James," Kate repeated with a nod. She kissed the child's head and looked up at Jack, feeling Hurley leave her back. Her eyes went wide and Jack was there, supporting her. He felt her lean into him and Jack brushed her cheek with his own, finally feeling his body relax knowing she'd chosen to love the child. Jack realized suddenly, it was in that moment that he'd made the same decision.


	16. Chapter 16

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Most of them were already on the ship. Jack stood on the shoreline with Kate. This time they looked into the jungle and not the ocean. He felt her hand release his as she pulled the soft new blanket off her son's face. The boy yawned quietly and bit down on his fingers as she rocked him gently.

"Feels like we've been here forever," Kate told him.

"Momma!" Maggie shouted from the boat behind them. It was a small raft that had been used to carry them to and from the larger boat a quarter of a mile out into the ocean. They'd had to bring belongings and the crew of the vessel wanted to study the island. They gave them all the information they had and warned them to stay away.

The quicker they left; the better.

Jack turned and nodded his head. "We're coming."

"Boat's gonna leave without you," she teased.

Kate smiled and looked up at Jack. "They caught any of them yet?"

"Claire," Jack told her with a short nod. "Found her this morning, said she didn't give them much of a fight."

"Did you…" she started.

"I warned them about Sawyer," Jack finished. They hadn't talked about Sawyer in a long time, anytime he started to, she pretended like she had something to do, getting up and walking away from him. Jack wanted her to open up, especially now. They'd already told her she was being handcuffed just inside the ship. They were putting her in the brig by herself. They told them something about standard procedure that Jack wanted to shove up their collective asses.

Kate turned and sighed as she went to the raft and climbed over the side with the help of a young man who eyed her suspiciously and kept one hand on his gun. Jack could see she noticed the gesture; her shoulders slumped as she sat inside the boat next to Maggie and Shannon. Jack sat at her side and watched her jerk as they pushed the raft out into the ocean and started up the small propeller.

Maggie jumped up and sat in his lap making googling noises at James, who snorted loudly and turned his head towards Kate's breast, clawing. "He's hungry," she told Jack.

He looked at her as if to say she knew what she had to do. Kate pulled the baby's blanket off him and covered herself as she gave the now whining boy her nipple. The young man grabbed his gun and looked shocked.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to remove the blanket," he commanded.

"Put your gun away, what the hell's wrong with you?" Jack shouted, raising a hand.

But Kate touched his shoulder and nodded her head. "It's ok Jack."

"It's not ok," he responded, watching her pull the blanket away and place it on her lap. Her cheeks burned a bright red as the man watched a moment before putting his gun back into its holster and stared out towards the ship.

It was naval ship, one that had been called out after the planes spotted them. They took the manifest from Hurley and began matching names with faces. Jack remembered how they'd looked at Kate. She'd been singing to James about cows and moons, the dishes and the spoons and they'd approached her, grabbing her roughly by the arms and yanking her up off the ground.

Everyone jumped to her defense. They'd take their chances with her free and Jack knew only because of their circumstances did they allow it. The raft slowed and they boarded the larger ship and Jack saw the man who would escort Kate. He stared at her with steel eyes, not looking at the five year old who clung to her leg knowing what was going to happen, or the infant still sucking happily on her chest. Jack took Maggie quickly and watched them cuff Kate's legs.

"Do you really need…" Jack started.

The man raised a hand, "Sir, step away from the prisoner."

Kate sniffled and pulled James off her, handing him to Jack. James shouted and then began to cry loudly as Jack patted his back softly. "I'm her husband," he pleaded. "These are her kids. Can't she just…"

The man shook his head. "Step away, please."

"She needs to feed him, it's a long trip."

Nodding his head, the man handed him a paper. "You're to report to my superior officer about a feeding schedule."

"Feeding schedule?" Jack shouted. "He's a month old, he doesn't HAVE a schedule. He gets hungry, he eats."

He turned in time to see them latch the handcuffs to her wrists before escorting her away. Maggie looked up at Jack with wide eyes. "Did momma break something big?"

Jack watched Kate turn and look at him once before going around a corner. He touched his daughter's head and glanced down at her. "Yeah, Maggie, she did."


	17. Chapter 17

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Jack took a shot.

Kate smiled for them in the courtroom, giving them a little wave. The lawyers did their thing and an old tape was played and Kate told her story. He'd never heard it from beginning to end. He'd only heard snippets. Her father hurt her. Her father taught her. Her father scarred her. Her father loved her. Her father fucked her. Kate told him what he needed to know, only what he needed to know. Then she told him what she needed to do.

She held it together during their visits as best she could. He watched her lose weight. He watched her lose hope. Jack watched her lose blood and words and hate. She lost everything except him because he loved her and she knew it. He made sure she knew it. He'd watched her with her children. Watched her kiss Maggie. Watched her cuddle Jamie. Watched the little boy he loved so much that wasn't his with the woman who'd pushed the pain of his conception to the farthest reaches of her head.

They played a tape. It was old and still had dirt and sweat covering its case and she cried. Jack heard Tom's voice for the first time. Kate told him about Tom a long time ago. Before the island, he was the only man she ever loved. Jack listened intently and he heard Kate.

"You're always running, Katie."

"You know why," she'd responded.

Jack listened to two children talk big dreams and then they stopped the tape and Kate sniffled loudly. She asked them to play some more. Kate talked about wanting to kill her father at the age of eleven and they cried together. The tape crackled and switched to a song. Something Jack didn't think he'd ever heard before. Something from Kate's childhood. She smiled through a memory.

Jack took a shot.

He'd left them alone in the hotel room. Shannon had gone back to her new life with Hurley – she didn't owe him anything. Maggie was big enough to take care of her brother, she'd done it several times before. She knew how to change his diaper and mix his formula and sing him lullubies that she'd learned as an infant. Maggie knew how to pick his clothes and put them on carefully. She was a smart girl.

Jack knew it was wrong, but his body ached without Kate. The young man behind the counter filled another glass as Jack put out his credit card. He'd had to have them reinstated once they figured out he wasn't dead. It meant getting his job back. He wasn't sure he could do it, but he performed his first surgery just two hours before. His hands had touched so much blood on the island and so many had died that he shook when it was over. Jack never thought he'd be afraid of surgery, but he gripped the sink and sobbed, watching his fingers turn white against the steel basin.

Maggie told him she was proud of him. He wondered if she knew what she was saying. She'd heard the words from her mother, but could a five year old comprehend pride? Jack held the shot glass in his hand and looked at the brown liquid. He wanted to wash it all away. Jack wanted to forget he had Kate, forget Maggie and James and forget the island. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Slamming the glass down, he pulled back his card and placed a twenty on the table, nodding to the young man.

Jack took a shot at something different.


	18. Chapter 18

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Jack felt like the walls were caving in. He waited in an office. It was like his own – white walls, diploma's hanging, books lining shelves and at the end was a cherry wood desk with a nameplate, a pile of files, a black lamp and a single picture of a man with his children. Jack had a similar image on his desk. He'd asked permission; he'd brought her a change of clothes. They sat with Maggie and James against a grey wall and smiled while the guard snapped a single picture. Jack hated that picture.

Kate's blouse hung loose on her skin, despite her insistence that it was – or had been – her size. Under her eyes were shadows and her arms, holding James, were thin and pale. Maggie looked shell-shocked, her smile fake as she sat on her father's lap. Only James smiled with honesty; widely, his dimples Jack's constant reminder of the circumstances of his creation.

They kept telling him it would be any day now, any day and they'd let her out. Good behavior, extenuating circumstances, psychological distress; they were all terms Jack was getting used to hearing.

She'd been in jail a year.

The door opened and Jack stood, turning to face the man he'd come to see. Sawyer's hair had been cut short and it stuck out in every direction like his son's had that morning when Jack pulled him out of his bed. He looked away from Jack as the psychologist led him to the second seat. They both sat together and Jack raised his eyes to the older man who frowned.

"We've made some progress with James. The treatments are working – Claire was released last week."

Jack nodded slowly. He'd been there to witness the woman's reintroduction to Charlie and Aaron. He watched Sawyer out of the corner of his eye as the psychologist went on about hormone levels, balances and stabilizations. Then he called Jack's name. He blinked, looking towards the grey haired man who leaned against the desk. The man smiled.

"James should be released within the month."

"Sawyer." Jack lowered his eyes. "His name is Sawyer," he asserted.

Sawyer kicked the desk with a grunt. "Sorry, Doc, going by James now. Something 'bout putting the past where it belongs and moving on."

Glancing over, he saw Sawyer picking something from underneath his nails and he lunged at him, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground. The psychologist shouted for security and Jack punched faster, feeling Sawyer's body mold to his fists as he increased the pressure of his blows. The man under him shielded himself, not bothering to fight back, which made Jack flare his nose and shout at him. He called him words he didn't think would ever escape his lips and as the orderlies pulled him off Sawyer, he kicked him in the back one last time.

Jack calmed himself quickly, pulling himself out of the grasp of the two men who held him as Sawyer rolled over and threw himself into the chair, touching the blood on his lips. His eyes watered and he looked up at Jack. "Make you feel better, Doc? You gonna sleep well tonight knowing you got me good?"

He didn't know how to respond. Sawyer didn't know the nightmares Jack had. Didn't know how Maggie moaned in her sleep and pushed at Jack's arms when he tried to comfort her. Jack sat down in the chair next to him and took a long breath. "How have you been, Sawyer?" He asked, staring at the desk in front of him.

Sawyer gave a nod and touched his hair. "Made me get a trim. Not to happy 'bout that. Otherwise, doing fine. They got some nice medications in here, let you sleep like a baby."

Feeling his eyes close against the words, Jack looked over at him. "Any plans when you get out?"

Shaking his head, Sawyer frowned. "Nah, nothing in concrete."

Jack opened his mouth and wanted to offer his help. He started to breathe the words, but they were stuck in his throat. "If you need anything…" he started before Sawyer raised an arm, silencing him.

"Jack, I know you're the hero and all, but you don't have to help me. I know what I done and I know it's irredeemable. I know you wouldn't blink an eye if I dropped dead right now…"

The psychologist interrupted. "Jack, you have to understand, James cannot be held responsible for his actions."

Nodding his head, Jack shrugged his shoulder.

Sawyer shouted, "Don't you think I feel rotten inside about it, Jack! I never wanted to hurt her. Never."

"Well, you did," Jack said simply, standing. "She tells me about her nightmares, Sawyer, she tells me what you did." He pressed his lips together tightly. "Claire, all she wanted was Aaron; Locke, he wanted Walt, but you, you wanted to fuck her. So you did. Over and over and over and if she made a sound or movement in protest, you'd hit her." He turned away, feeling his stomach bubble with anger. "Jesus, Sawyer, you stabbed her in the shoulder with a god-damned knife. You could have killed her, but you didn't care, you just wanted to know you had her."

The other man sat silent as Jack stood.

"They'll release you Sawyer and I'll have no objections because I know, according to their charts and their studies, it wasn't you, but deep down, I think it was. It was what you wanted from day one and you got it." He walked towards the door and heard Sawyer call his name. Turning, he saw Sawyer staring down at his open wallet, at the Wal-Mart photos of Maggie and James grinning. Jack watched him pick the wallet up and run a finger over James' cheeks and stare up at Jack.

"I didn't know…" Sawyer trailed as Jack snatched his wallet, cramming it back into his pocket. He watched the sorrow in Sawyer's eyes and he hated himself for believing him.


	19. Chapter 19

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Jack felt her shudder around him and he gasped into her ear, feeling himself release. She began to laugh and he stared down at her, seeing the joy flooding her features. Kate saw him staring. She brought a hand up to her face, covering her mouth and he slapped it away playfully, capturing her lips with his own. She moved her head off the bed, deepening the kiss and he moaned, rolling onto his back and bringing her up on top of him. Breaking the kiss, she laid her head down on his shoulder and he hugged her, pulling the covers up over her bare back.

"I forgot what a real bed felt like," she told him.

He wondered for a moment how long it had truly been. She'd told him about the running. Sleeping in cars and cheap motels, or under bridges and inside tunnels. She'd slept in a tree, in a barn, on a beach and in a twenty four hour convenience store. From what he calculated, the last time she slept on a real bed, was at least ten years ago. She settled into him and brushed the hairs on his chest.

"Didn't forget you though," she kissed his chest and closed her eyes, letting her body relax as the last weak wave of her orgasm rolled over him inside her.

Jack thrust himself against her and heard the shout of surprise she gave, lifting her head to look down at him. He smirked and shrugged and pouted his lips.

"Did you take something, Jack?" She teased, checking the bedside table.

He pulled his head off the pillow and kissed her breasts, but she rolled off him, leaving him lying limp against himself. Jack glanced at her as she yawned and snuggled against his side. "What's wrong?" He asked, curious.

"I'm tired, Jack," she told him with a laugh.

Nodding, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. He'd spent a year and a half sleeping on the couch in the living room, or in his office because he couldn't bring himself to sleep in the bed without her. She'd forced him to buy a house. One story, four bedrooms, a large back yard and private. Hurley paid cash and joked about not setting any fires. Jack remembered the day he brought Kate home. She'd covered her eyes, telling him he'd probably purchased the ugliest house in the world.

But when she looked, she gasped and smiled. Then she stepped out of the car and cried. Jack remembered Maggie and James standing in front of her in the yard, they'd been halfway up the steps when she started. The duo turned and frowned and looked to Jack for prompting. James was the first to walk to her, putting his toddler hands on her knees to tug at her jeans.

"We're home, momma," he'd shouted at her, pointing at the house.

Jack understood then, it was all over. There would be no more running from people who wanted to lock her away. There would be no more fake names and car chases. It was over and she was home. Wiping her eyes, she'd picked up her son, balancing him on her bony hip and Jack stood at her side for support. She was weak, she still was, but every day was another set of full meals, another day of running after her children and another day of loving Jack.

When he glanced over at her again, she was sleeping, her hand lying atop his stomach, her left leg up around his. He adjusted the covers over her and snuggled them just under her chin, pulling her long hair away from her neck and letting it fall against the pillow. Jack smiled at her, kissing her forehead and watching her eyes scrunch together a moment before relaxing again. He closed his eyes and sighed.

Their wedding felt like it played to a slow song on a hot day. Jack let his mother arrange it, so she could get to know Kate, who knew nothing of planning a wedding and everything about vows. That part she memorized before the rest. She told him she intended to keep them all this time because she knew he would also.

Her first marriage was rushed, chaotic and short-lived.

The wedding march played like it always did, just after Maggie and Aaron went down the aisle holding hands and telling each other secrets. The two giggled together near the alter and Jack smiled. Claire took pictures of everything and Hurley hugged Shannon and they all stood when Kate came through the double doors. Walt walked her while Michael watched, proud of his boy.

Jack's mother cried. Every woman cried, but not Kate. He watched her smile up at him as they went through the motions they were both familiar with. It was as if this were the only sure thing she had ever done in her entire life. He felt it too. Jack noticed her hands were calm and cool as she took his and he felt his heart thump away in his chest as if he were sitting poolside with a Coke in one hand and a Hotdog in the other.

Everyone clapped when they kissed and James hooted from where Jin held him on one lap, with the small Korean girl on his other. Shai clapped her hands together and pointed and Jin nodded, grinning.

Jack danced with Kate, twirling her around in her white dress and bringing her to him quickly, holding her close. Someone snapped their photo and they laughed. He swung her around and watched her as she stared up at him, smiling widely and then he pulled her to himself and closed his eyes as she leaned on his chest.

"Jack," she started. He waited. "I'm pregnant."

He pulled her away and watched her expression go from happy to excited and he laughed, nodding his head for assurance that he'd heard what he'd heard. She mouthed a 'yeah' and he picked her up off the ground, listening to her squeal loudly in his ear as he turned in circles where they stood.


	20. Chapter 20

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Kate sat up on the hospital bed and smiled as Jack re-entered. She grabbed hold of a remote control on the bed and showed him. "Jack, this thing, the bed moves."

"Wow, drugs good, aren't they," he told her, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she pushed the button to make the bed move up so she could lean back into it.

Nodding, she took his hand. "Gotta say, birth in hospital, way better than on the island."

Jack laughed, touching her stomach and listening to the baby's heartbeat on the monitor next to her. He watched the meters jump around and then saw her wince just a little, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. Jack watched her open her eyes a moment later and breath slowly, looking back up at him.

"Jin couldn't make it," he told her.

Kate frowned. "Is he ok? How's Shai?"

"She's well, going to pre-school now. Jin's working, getting by. He's in San Francisco."

She sighed and leaned back on the bed, touching her large belly. "He's a big one," Kate told Jack.

"You're going to be fine," he told her, kissing her forehead. "He's a healthy size." Jack sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand. "You thought of a name yet?"

"I was thinking it was your turn."

He laughed. "Me? Name a baby?"

She shrugged. "I named Maggie and James, it's only fair."

"Fair? I don't know, I might give him a weird name."

"I trust you won't." Kate grinned. "Or I'll hurt you."

"Oh," Jack squinted. "In that case…" he considered. "Christopher."

"And here I thought you'd want Jack Jr," she giggled, but he frowned. "What is it?"

"Don't you think James would wonder why he wasn't Jack Jr?" He tightened his grip on her hand and looked up at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to kill the…"

She shook her head. "No, I understand." Kate licked her lips and listened to the quick thumping beside her and she took a long breath. "So, Chris Shephard. I like it." She raised her eyes to meet his and then sighed. "Oh, here comes another one."

Jack felt odd, being behind her during the delivery. He watched the doctor pull his son out and hand him to several nurses who cleaned and covered him before putting him against Kate. The boy was born like Maggie, with a thick covering of dark hair on his head, but was quiet like James, staring up at the two who looked down at him.

He entered the waiting room with his son and watched Charlie and Claire stand as Hurley helped Shannon. Jack pointed at the woman. "It'll be you soon."

Shannon snorted. "Don't remind me."

Hurley grinned, taking a peek inside the bundle Jack carried. "Another little dude," he grinned. "Girl," he mouthed to Jack, pointing at Shannon's stomach. "We should, like, set up some play dates."

"Yeah, Hurley, let's work on the walking first," Jack responded, pulling back the blanket so they could get a better look at the boy. "Christopher Shephard," Jack told them, watching the boy yawn and raise a fist.

"Takes after his pop," Charlie noted with a nod of his head.

Claire seemed to disagree. "No, I think you're gonna have another Kate here."

"Well, he punched a doctor, so…" Jack trailed, letting them all laugh. He glanced around, lowering his eyebrows.

"Right here, Jack," Walt told him, touching his shoulder. He stroked Chris' head and smiled. "He'll look like you, Jack." He nodded. "Anyone got cigars?" He raised his eyebrows and smirked deviously.

The group laughed again as Chris sighed in Jack's arms. He glanced back towards the room where Kate was resting and he wondered how his mother was fairing with the children. Jack chuckled at something he'd missed Hurley say and he shook his head feeling like so many were missing.


	21. Chapter 21

Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

The baseball game was tied and Jack bit his bottom lip, touching Kate's knee. He watched her raise her eyes from her magazine and looked out onto the diamond where the boys were playing. She leaned into Jack and asked, "Who's where?"

"Jamie's on second and Chris is up to bat."

"Oh," she said, sounding upset. He watched the concentration that took over her face as she put the magazine down and started watching. Baseball was only entertaining for two innings, she'd once told him – the first and the last – because all the others were just filler between the two in which the teams tried the hardest.

Jack wasn't going to argue. He watched Chris swing on two high pitches and he shouted at him to watch the ball. Chris threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes and gripped the bat as Jamie shouted more instructions from the second base. He turned when Kate jerked and sat up straight, looking around.

"Where's Maggie?" She asked quickly.

Pointing towards a group of girls chatting under a tree a few yards away, Jack smiled, "You worry too much."

She lowered her eyebrows at him. "Take a good look at the papers Jack, kids disappear all the time."

Jack kissed her nose. "You're cute when you're worried."

The crack of a bat against a ball made her shove him away and jump up, shouting. He smiled up at her and shook his head, turning to see the girls with Maggie start to point and giggle as James began trotting backwards across home base. The boy pointed and winked and Jack rolled his eyes.

"Got some of the ol' pop in him afterall," Sawyer drawled from his side. Jack grabbed Kate's arm, balancing her as she jumped away from the voice. She sat and he could see she was breathing hard, afraid. Sawyer flicked a cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked.

"Talk to the Mrs', she gave the ok," he pointed at Kate with a frown. "Didn't you tell him, Freckles?"

Jack turned and looked at Kate as she stared at Sawyer. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Something you forgot to mention?"

"He comes to the games," she breathed. "I told him he could."

"Really." Jack licked his lips, watching her turn her vision towards him.

Kate frowned.

Nodding his head, Jack looked back at where Chris was standing on second and James was shouting at his little brother. He watched the rest of the game in silence, feeling Kate's eyes on him. He could sense she was worried, she knew he'd be mad at her, Jack felt her take his hand and try to get him to look at her.

Sawyer went towards Maggie and nudged her with his knee. The girl looked up and smiled, waving a hello as he continued walking past the trees, back towards his truck. Jack watched him go as the boys gathered their stuff and approached them, both looking tired and hungry.

"Dad," James called loudly. "Hey Dad!" He put a hand up and waved it, raising his eyebrows in an amused manor. "Man, you're getting old," he teased.

Jack laughed. He looked at James and touched Chris' head as the younger boy tried to climb the bleachers. "He comes to every game?" Jack asked Kate.

She smiled, nodding her head. "He just comes to see him, Jack. Not me."

Jack believed her. He didn't have to choose to because he'd learned a long time ago to tell when she lied and around that time she'd learned to stop doing it. Climbing down, he lifted a hand to help her off the last step. She didn't need the help, but she held his hand as they walked back to the car. James and Chris raced one another across the grass as Maggie chatted with Kate and Jack sighed.

He kissed her temple and she turned to give him a confused amused look that made him laugh. Jack nodded, a sign telling her it was ok, what she'd done. She hugged him and he lowered his head, shaking it as Jack and Chris started shoving one another at the car door.

"So, this is normal," he sighed.

"Normal is relative, I've heard," Kate responded watching him pull the car keys from his pocket and hit the switch to open the doors. James shoved Chris out and Maggie groaned, going to stop the fighting and claim her window seat.

"Nah, I like normal. It's just weird enough for me." Jack grinned, opening the door and climbing behind the wheel. He watched Kate click her seatbelt and look back at Chris who stared out the window.

Jack watched James spread himself along the back row of seats and cross his legs, pulling a worn book from the back of Maggie's seat. Kate took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Any regrets, Jack?"

She asked him that sometimes, when he seemed to be contemplating his life. Jack wondered if she thought he was going to make a run for it. It made him smile seeing how domesticated she'd become since they'd met and knowing that in all reality, it would be him who would hit the pavement for the door. He watched James flip a page and he shook his head. "Nah. None."

Finis


End file.
